Actions and Calls to Mobilize Ahead of the Shutdown on September 10
Featured image: Banner hung calling for the shutdown on September 10. Source: Ligue de la Jeunesse Révolutionnaire’s X account.
Today the vote of confidence against François Bayrou takes the place. Everything indicates that by the end of today, he will no longer be France’s prime minister. Marking yet another collapse of the French government, less than a year after Michel Barnier’s short-lived administration fell last December. If Bayrou’s administration falls, French President Emmanuel Macron will have to then choose his fifth prime minister in less than two years. La Cause du Peuple (LCDP) issued an analysis on the fall of Barnier that already foresaw the developments that are taking place today: “But Macron has no base anymore: he is hated, he incarnates a regime in agony, a Fifth Republic created by the crisis which now is unable to maintaincontrol. There is no “democratic fatigue” in France: there is only the reality that the masses cannot be ruled as before, and the continuation of this crisis confirms that. This is just the beginning!”.
An unofficial translation of the full analysis can be read here:
Organizations of all kind are already preparing the struggle and are calling to mobilize on this September 10. A joint statement has been issued by different forces, signed by: Ligue de la Jeunesse Révolutionnaire, Jeunes Communistes du Rhône (MJCF Rhône), Union Communiste Libertaire Lyon, Jeunes insoumises Lyon, Jeunes Écolos Rhône – Alpes, Union Étudiante Lyon, JS Rhône, Jeunes Génération.s Lyon:
The organizations denounce the “colonial, racist and Islamophobic policy of those who exploit, murder and deport massively”. The organizations also denounce the many anti-people’s measures undertaken by the French State, but they reiterate that the anger doesn’t have to be directed only against Bayrou, Macron, etc., but also against the bourgeoisie. The call unites many youth organizations to prepare the mobilizations and to achieve unity in the struggle. The statement firmly calls for that on September 10, the people’s masses take action, not only to recover their rights but “to conquer another world”.
Source: MJCF Rhône’s X account.
LCDP reported that more organizations are positioning themselves in favor of the September 10 mobilizations, for example the General Confederation of Labor (CGT). The revolutionary newspaper explains that “the CGT leadership cannot repeat the same trick as during the Yellow Vests, and that’s a good thing. Especially since the working class is in turmoil and many sectors of the union are actively mobilizing. (…) The highly combative National Federation of Chemical Industries (FNIC) spearheaded the CGT call to mobilization on September 10th. They unambiguously support the “Block Everything!” movement and will participate actively in it.” There are much more examples of firm mobilization to support the movement of September 10. “Soulevements de la Terre” (ST), an environmentalist organization which has carried out several actions against mega-projects and the monopolies destruction of the nature, has also stressed its support for the struggle. The statements by the CGT and ST have been shared by LCDP:
The bourgeoisie is showing its fear of these mobilizations. The French Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, reportedly has sent a note to the prefects warning about the upcoming shutdown. There are many instructions in this note, all addressing the problem of the mobilization and the necessity to quell it, for example it states that “any attempt to block the infrastructure essential to the life of the Nation must be hindered immediately and, if necessary, systematically unblocked as quickly as possible.” It states also that the police has to be extremely mobile in defining all the likely targets that they have to protect: “This particularly concerns stations, ports, airports, public transport, major roads, oil depots, logistics platforms, power plants, waste incineration plants or water treatment sites, as well as the country’s main supply centers such as the Rungis national interest market”. Also are mentioned the goal of protecting the “educational establishments, particularly universities or secondary schools”. This note allegedly contains an instruction calling to mobilize the national police and gendarmes.
Despite these warnings and threats by the French State, and the focus on the targets to protect, many actions are already taking place all over France ahead of the shutdown on September 10. As an example, the LJR and Jeunes Révolutionnaires (JR) have hung banners and made powerful actions of agitation, for example in Lille:
Many actions can be seen in social media, reported by bourgeois media and by social media accounts of the movement for the mobilizations on September 10:
