France’s far-left CGT trade union urged the French on Tuesday to turn the “yellow vests” movement into a bigger show of resistance to President Emmanuel Macron’s radical reform agenda, as it called on “all citizens” to take part in anti-government protests next month. Exhorting the Macron administration to adopt a “fair tax system” in response to the “legitimate anger” over rising fuel prices, tough economic policies and stagnant spending, the CGT announced plans to organise mass demonstrations on December 1.
The CGT said in a statement: “Unemployment and precarious employment are on the rise and plunging families and ordinary citizens into chaos… More and more French people are having difficulty making ends meet each month. This situation cannot be allowed to continue.
“The government is playing with fire by trivialising the [fuel tax] protests and by ignoring trade unions.”
The CGT urged “citizens, employees and pensioners” to push the government to reduce taxes and increase the minimum wage, pension payments and welfare benefits.
The so-called “yellow vests” – “gilets jaunes” – movement, named for the high-visibility safety jackets worn by supporters, erupted on social media last month with calls for blockades of roads and motorways.
As a result, more than 280,000 people blocked roads across France on Saturday with burning barricades and convoys of slow-moving trucks in protest at the planned hikes in fuel taxes.
Two people have been killed and more than 500 injured in clashes between drivers and demonstrators.
Protesters say they are being squeezed by years of fuel tax increases that have driven prices to levels not seen since the early 2000s.
Mr Macron introduced fuel tax hikes to put pressure on drivers to switch to less-polluting cars, touching a nerve with voters as the extra cost began to bite in October when global oil prices surged.
The government says it wants to close the gap between the price of diesel fuel and gasoline as part of its strategy to wean France off fossil fuels.
But a “carbon trajectory” calls for continued increases, particularly on diesel, the most commonly used car fuel in France.
The price of diesel at the pump has increased by about 20 per cent in the past year to an average of 1.49 euros (£1.32)/litre, according to the website www.carbu.com.
But the grassroots movement has tapped a broader frustration at the perceived squeeze in household spending power and mounting dissatisfaction with Mr Macron’s economic reforms, with protesters accusing him of neglecting the lower and middle classes and of being the “president of the rich”.
However Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who said on Sunday he was sensitive to the sense of abandonment expressed by some protesters, stressed that the government would not back down on a further fuel tax hike set for January 1.
Mr Philippe said in an interview with France 2 television: “The path we’ve set out on is the right one and we’re going to stick to it.
“I hear what the French are saying. It’s very clear. But a government that … zigzags according to the difficulties, what too many past governments have done, won’t lead France to where it must be.”
Mr Philippe added workers would ultimately have less of a tax burden by the end of Mr Macron’s mandate in 2022, with some measures already bearing fruit this year, such as reduced housing tax bills.