Will Workers Fight To Keep Hard-Earned Benefits... Or Buckle?

Tourists may be discomforted by the French strikes this week, but the French public is overwhelmingly supportive of workers who refuse to go down without a fight in the class war being waged against them by the conservative ruling elite. It's premature to predict rolling out the guillotines again, but French workers are not about to sacrifice their families' well being on the alter of corporate dominance. I wonder if American Labor-- not to mention the American public-- has what it takes to stand up to the ruling elite. We'll find out after the election, when the Cat Food Commission rolls out its call to start the process of dismantling Social Security. It's precisely what the same elites have Sarkozy doing in France now as he attempts to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. "He says the measures are necessary if France is to combat its rising budget deficit."

But outside, on streets across the country, there will be angry demonstrations. The unions are furious.

They claim Mr Sarkozy governs only in the interest of the rich and that the ruling elite should pay for the financial crisis - not rank and file workers.

They say they have the people on their side and the President is now facing a "perfect storm" of protest.

Sarkozy's approval ratings have continued to fall across the summer. His government has been badly damaged by a corruption scandal involving France's richest woman Lillian Bettencourt--- the L'Oreal heiress.

The man at the centre of the imbroglio is also the Labour Minister, Eric Woerth. He, as it happens, is responsible for driving through the pension reforms.

In Paris though, as people started their working day, there was great sympathy for the strikers.

Cafe owner Mustafa told Sky News, retiring at 60 was a socialist ideal and is now a political right thanks to the hard work of the left in the past.

"It is much better to stop at 60, everyone wants that. This government do not think for the working man they just care about their own type."

But the government argues that the strikers and the unions are out of touch with reality. It claims the age of retirement needs to rise if France is to avoid bankruptcy in the next 10 years.

There have been over 200 demonstrations, 2.5 million demonstrators, across the country like the one in the photo of Lyon above. Polls show that Sarkozy would probably lose a reelection battle if he runs again in 2012. Prophetically, Alan Grayson talked about France yesterday in a Labor Day communication to his constituents: "I look forward to a Labor Day where every worker has a job, every worker has a pension, every worker has paid vacations, and every worker has the health care to enjoy life. My opponents call that France. I call it America, an America that is Number One. Not #1 in wasted military expenditures. Not #1 in number of foreign countries occupied. Number One in jobs. Number One in health. Number One in education. Number One in happiness."