More than a million people were on the streets of France today at over 200 rallies, as part of a national strike against President Emmanuel Macron’s latest attack on pensions. Workers from the railways, the Paris transport system, oil refineries, and the media; along with teachers, civil servants, truck drivers and bank staff all walked out in opposition to Macron’s plans to increase the age of retirement. The potential for a showdown exists, but will the labour leaders rise to the occasion?

For the past few weeks, with the Lunar New Year approaching, the working class in China has been engaged in a wave of economic strikes, protests and demonstrations. Whilst these struggles vary in terms of scale and militancy, collectively they give a clear indication of the deepening socio-economic crisis, and of the courageous groundswell of class struggle that this is causing to rise up against the capitalist regime.