The workers who thought that the Rassemblement national (RN)¹ party was a way to get rid of Macron are feeling cheated by the political manoeuvers that stopped it. Conversely, for those afraid of the RN’s policy and its attacks on immigrants, the Nouveau Front populaire (NFP)’s² relative victory comes as a relief.

But unless there’s a rapid social uprising in the working class, that relief can only be short-lived. Society is sinking into a deeper crisis. And it’s not simply political instability and the absence of a real majority that risk paralyzing the next government, but that the economic crisis is getting worse.

Business bankruptcies are increasing, threatening tens of thousands of jobs. The state is in debt to the tune of 3,000 billion euros and financiers are putting on the pressure more than ever. Rivalry between the major capitalist conglomerates is intensifying. It has already weighed heavily on the war in Ukraine and now the U.S. and China are preparing for military confrontation.

In the circumstances, even with the election of a left-wing government, no one can believe in Santa Claus. The big bourgeoisie will continue to make workers sweat blood and tears, helped by the government who does their bidding. And it won’t be the first time that left-wingers, like Hollande, Faure and even Mélenchon, give their backing to lay-offs, company closures and austerity measures for the working class.

Nor will that kind of government protect workers of foreign origin from racist rejection, let alone hatred. It’s a poison that runs through the veins of society, even at the heart of the state apparatus and the police. And it will continue to act because the RN is not weaker. Its political weight and influence on the whole of society have never been higher. And it can only get stronger when, over the coming months, the next government or governments show that all they have to offer workers is more stepbacks.

There can be nothing positive for the working class without a confrontation with the big bourgeoisie and its system. And no politician wants that because they all faithfully serve capitalism.

If they are to defend their interests, workers must find their way to collective struggles again, aware that the bourgeoisie’s domination must be overturned.

The next government may perhaps be called Nouveau Front Populaire in reference to May­June 1936 when workers obtained paid vacation and a 40-hour week. But, contrary to the myth invented by the left, those gains were not handed out by Léon Blum and his governmental alliance. They were won by one of the toughest general strikes that the country has ever known, with a whole wave of factory occupations.

Fear of losing everything led the employers of the time to grant paid holidays that weren’t even mentioned in the Front Populaire program. Far from encouraging the mobilization that led to victory, the role of Blum’s government was, on the contrary, to channel it so that workers would not challenge private ownership of factories and the power held by employers.

The final political act by the Front Populaire Chamber was to vote absolute power for Maréchal Pétain. In other words, the Front populaire didn’t protect workers and didn’t stop fascism or war. That story should teach us a lesson.

Capitalism condemns us to being exploited and to the destruction of the planet. It sinks society into inequality, nationalist and racist hatred, war. Only the strength and unity of the working class, mobilized against the big bourgeoisie, can stop it.

With this aim in mind, we need to build a party that unites workers of all origins in the awareness that the working class is the only revolutionary force.

Governments may come and go but society will continue to function because we, the workers, are the foundations. Without us, the bourgeoisie can’t accumulate wealth, profits, capital. We are indispensable. This gives us the means to make ourselves respected and to fight but also and above all to overthrow the power of the bourgeoisie so that we can run society ourselves.

Nathalie Arthaud