The working-class history of the French Republic

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Strikes Grow in France
By Nat London, the Militant, 12 April 1995. A strike wave in France, taking place in the midst of the presidential election campaign, continues to shake up politics here. Walkouts are now spreading among postal, railroad, bus, and subway workers as well as to the state-run airline, Air Inter.
French strike highlights capitalist scheme
By William Pomeroy, People's Weekly World, 6 January 1996. The great wave of strikes and demonstrations that began in France during the last week of November and continued until the week before Christmas in a broader sense was aroused by the economic program being implemented by the non-elected top bodies of the European Union.
French Workers Take to Streets, Disrupt Rail Service
By Craig R. Whiltney, New York Times, 26 May 1996. Thousands of workers took to the streets of Paris on Thursday and others disrupted passenger train service to demand a shorter workweek to reduce France's 11.8 percent unemployment rate, in defiance of government efforts to cut its budget.
French strike shakes right-wing government
By Fred Gaboury, People's Weekly World, 7 December 1996. Solidarity and militancy paid off on Nov. 29 when a 12-day strike by French truck drivers won an unprecedented agreement.
Hundreds of Unarmed Employees Occupy French Bank
By Lara Marlowe, Irish Times, 20 January 1997. Bank employees burst into a meeting of the bank's directors and announced that no one could leave until the governor came in person. At least 1,800 of 3,300 jobs at the CFF will be lost if the ailing bank is ceded to the rival Credit Immobilier is passed by the French Assembly next month.
Hostile take-over continues at Paris bank
Workers World, 6 February 1997. Workers occupying the Credit Fonciers bank in Paris vowed to continue their take-over until the government scraps its plan to spin off part of the bank's operations and lay off workers.
Workers keep up the pressure
By G. Dunkel, Workers World, 2 October 1997. French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin campaigned on a platform of 35 hours work for 39 hours pay. Now unions there are pushing hard for the jobs, pay, working hours and pensions Jospin promised.
The French 35 hour week
By Greg Oxley, 21 October 1997. The historic decision introducing the 35 hour week without loss of pay represents a major achievement for organized labour in France. The fact the Jospin dealt a blow to the employers interests immediately provoked a crisis within the CNPF.
Blockades go up in France again
By David Graves in Calais & Susannah Herbert in Paris, The Daily Telegraph, 3 November 1997. Militant French lorry drivers threatened to cause havoc to trade by blockading Calais and the Channel tunnel last night as pay talks failed.