October 16, 2026 International Socialist Alternative
Leaflet distributed by ISA members on the mass demonstration in Paris on 17 October.
The movement taking place in France is historic. It sets an example for workers and young people around the world : that in the face of endless austerity and cost of living crises, the most powerful way to fight back is with our own self-organisation and struggle.
The call for mass strikes on 5 November must be taken up as widely as possible. However, recent movements such as the gilets jaunes, boquons tout and the pension struggle show that we must go beyond the “saute mouton” strategy of the current union leadership. We need to hit the capitalists where it hurts by stopping their profits. This means turning 5 November into a real general strike!
Rather than backroom deals by union leaders, our strike must be controlled by workers and young people to ensure our demands are met. The assemblies being organised by school and college students to plan the protests point the way forward. Democratic assemblies bringing in students, workers and parents could coordinate the next steps and overall strategy for our movement – to bring the call for strikes into every workplace, and to coordinate student solidarity with workers. This could include high school strikes to shut down classes from 2 November.
Our movement has shown that mass struggle is the most effective way to cut across the divisive racism of Le Pen and the far right. They have consistently backed Macron’s anti-worker and anti-student cuts and attacks on housing and jobs. It is only a united struggle of workers and young people across all backgrounds that can resist attacks on education, living standards and democratic rights.
It is positive that La France Insoumise has supported these demonstrations. If Melenchon took up the call for open assemblies to build this movement from below, it would give the movement a powerful boost. But to become a true vehicle for this struggle, LFI should open up its structures to the tens of thousands of new workers and youth being mobilised by this movement. This could transform the party into a tool for those on the streets and on the barricades, to democratically debate demands, strategy and to put forward a programme that can challenge Macron and the capitalists’ agenda.
We can’t wait for next year’s elections to see the change we need. Instead we should continue the momentum that exists to build a mighty movement that can bring him down immediately!
International Socialism!
Macron’s and Lecornu’s budget seeks to make historic cuts—and Le Pen wants even deeper ones—in order to ‘pay down the national debt’. In reality, this is only being done to satisfy large corporations, banks, and the capitalist EU. That is why this struggle against the Macron government, the austerity budget, and for mass investment in education is a struggle against the whole capitalist system.
Around the world, similar struggles are taking place. From Spain and Belgium, to India, Brazil and beyond. Youth and workers are rising up because the world capitalist system is not able to offer us a future beyond endless austerity, cost of living crisis, war, climate destruction and far right politicians shifting the blame. We are facing the same crises around the world because the capitalist system – and its crisis – is international. So our fight must be international too.
To build that fight, we need to build an international organisation, rooted in all these struggles, with the clear aim of socialist revolution in France and on a world scale. Join us to help build that fight.
