France Follow

French students take to the streets and occupy their colleges. The police attack with batons and tear gas. It’s no surprise that people ask, is it 1968 all over again?

Tuesday's mass strike in France went ahead because the protest movement against new labour laws for young people continued to grow throughout last week. It put mobilisation first, not a vain hope of successful talks with the government.

Last weekend many people feared that the trade unions delay in calling a general strike would be a serious blow. But more than 80 universities continue to be occcupied or heavily affected by strikes.

France’s bosses, and the politicians that back them, have been trying to ram through such neo-liberal "reforms" for over a decade, but have faced continuous resistance from workers and the left.

There is a lot resting on the outcome of the pensions fight in Britain and the uprising in France against the new labour code.

Up to one and a half million workers struck in Britain. Three million workers, students and young unemployed demonstrated in 150 towns and cities across France.

Three million young people and workers demonstrated and struck across France on Tuesday of this week. It was a historic day of action and a magnificent display of solidarity against the government’s CPE labour laws.

The movement against a youth employment law – know by the acronym CPE – in France has been on the rise for the last week with huge demonstrations and more and more universities on strike, blockaded and occupied.

Every morning at 7am students arrive to blockade our university. We put desks and chairs across the entrances.

French youth are in revolt. From the poor suburbs to the elite universities, young people have taken to the streets, occupied universities and closed schools in protest at new employment laws that will trash their rights at work.

Tuesday 28 March can be the start of a new chapter in British workers’ history. We need it to be as exciting and militant as the revolt we’ve seen in France.

Trade union leaders in France have called a one-day general strike for Tuesday of next week.