French Teachers Strike over Neo-Liberal ‘Reform’

An Earlier Demonstration against Education Cuts in France

The planned strike by members of the SNES/FSU union went ahead last Tuesday

Teachers were striking over a raft of ‘reforms’ which include only replacing half the teachers who retire. Teachers’ leaders say that this will increase the workload of those teachers still in service. The government is planning to reduce the number of teachers by 16,000 next year and by 50,000 over the next three years.

In addition the government is increasing parental ‘choice’ and abolishing school catchment areas – a development which has had a devastating effect on schools in other European countries – in particular the UK. Philippe Merieux – Professor of Education at Lyon university has said that the government is undermining the whole education system by these so-called reforms. He told a radio interviewer: “We’re beginning to see terrible effects in some schools with the abolition of catchment areas, increasing ghettoisation and confusion and even despair among many teachers.”

Despite the fact that it is precisely this belief in choice and the free market which has brought the world economy to the point of ruin, neo-liberal governments like the Sarkozy administration in France are still pressing ahead with these changes. Cut backs in jobs are all part of the same project and the French action is mirrored in other countries – for example the mass public workers strike in Ireland last week.

Teachers in France were joined by postal workers protesting about what they see as the planned privatisation of postal services – a struggle which also has echoes in the UK.