French unions call for protests to pressure Macron to appoint a left-wing government

PARIS (AP) — Only 15 days before the start of the Olympic Games in ParisA major French union called for mass demonstrations and possible strikes on Thursday to urge President Emmanuel Macron to “respect the results” of the recent parliamentary elections and allow a left-wing coalition to form a new government.

France is on the verge of forming a government paralysis The elections to the National Assembly on Sunday led to a split in parliament into three political groupings: the left-wing New Popular Front coalition, Macron’s centrist allies and Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National.

The new popular front won the most seats However, it was not enough for an absolute majority to govern alone. The three largest parties in the alliance, the far-right “La France Insponté”, the Socialists and the Greens, urged the president to turn to them when forming the new government.

Sophie Binet, general secretary of the influential left-wing union CGT, said in an interview with French broadcaster LCI on Thursday that if Macron did not respect the election result, he “risked plunging the country into chaos again”.

Binet said the president should allow the New Popular Front to form the new government, although the left-wing alliance has not yet proposed a candidate for prime minister due to internal disagreements. She called on union members to take to the streets and “participate in rallies to place the National Assembly under surveillance.”

Binet did not rule out strikes during the Olympics. Asked about strikes that could disrupt the biggest event France has ever organized, she said: “At this point in time, we are not planning a strike during the Olympics. But if Emmanuel Macron continues to throw cans of petrol on the fires he himself started…”

The CGT has launched an open call for possible strikes by public sector workers from July to September. The Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11.

Macro has asked his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to continue to manage day-to-day affairs despite Attal’s offer to resign. On Wednesday, Macron said he would wait until the country’s political parties agreed on a broad consensus in the National Assembly before he can decide on a new prime minister, which infuriates the left-wing coalition and the unions.

The inaugural session of the new legislature is scheduled for July 18.

CGT railway workers called for nationwide rallies in front of prefectures and near the National Assembly in Paris on July 18 to demand that the New Popular Front be allowed to form a government, the union said in a statement.

Marylise Léon, leader of the centre-left CFDT union, also expressed concern about Macron’s reluctance to appoint a new prime minister whose government could address workers’ problems.

“Workers’ expectations regarding purchasing power and working conditions have not disappeared,” Léon said in an interview with France Inter on Thursday. “A strike is sometimes the only way to resolve a situation.”

She said the union does not rule out strikes during the Olympics “in certain sectors if social dialogue breaks down,” including in private security and at Paris airports. But she added: “The CFDT’s aim is not to block the Olympics.”

Last year, unions organized mass protests to prevent the Macron government from raising the retirement age.

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