RAMZY BAROUD explains why the world can no longer ignore Palestine
Public-sector unions square up to Macron
The presidents policies of job cuts and pay freezes are causing unrest among the French working class, says TOM GILL
WHEN French President Emmanuel Macron secured his sweeping majority of the Elysee Palace and parliament in May and June, it was said that only the unions had a chance of checking his power.
So this week’s show of unity and strength by public-sector unions — after months of squabbling — will have him worried.
For the first time in a decade all nine unions representing 5.4 million public workers protested in the streets of France on Tuesday.
More from this author
The 2017 elections were a political earthquake in France and the shockwaves are now hitting the French Communist Party, says TOM GILL
Similar stories

As heavy industry flees and public-sector strikes paralyse the nation, the French leader’s increasingly desperate attempts to rule without a majority reveal the deep crisis at the heart of European liberal democracy, writes KEVIN OVENDEN

In the first of two articles, ROBERT GRIFFITHS argues that despite a parliamentary majority, Labour’s timid Budget fails to seize a historic opportunity and lacks the ambition needed to address Britain’s deep social and economic crises

The French president and the European Central Bank have identified ‘more of the same’ neoliberal agenda as the answer to the EU’s woes – but can post-Brexit Britain grasp the opportunity to reject continued austerity, asks NICK WRIGHT

Bill Greenshields and Mary Adossides speak to France Insoumise MP SYLVIE FERRER on Macron's anti-democratic antics and why the left needs a chance to implement its programme