Protesters attend a demonstration to support French hospital staff members who protest in Paris 

Paris, June 8 (RHC)-- With unions showing rare unity, hospitals were brought to a near-halt across France due to a major strike.  Since the Great Recession began, seemingly no group in France - other than the Yellow Vests - have protested more than medical workers.

France’s health care system was ranked #1 in the world by the United Nations as recently as the year 2000.  However, its quality has plummeted following over a decade of banker bailouts and austerity cuts.   Neoliberal economics as applied to public health care has created too many complaints by medical workers to list: frozen salaries, slashed budgets, overwork, closed hospitals, a lack of equipment, gutted morale and much more.

Thousands of medical workers who refused orders to get coronavirus vaccines haven’t been reintegrated - even though corona restrictions have ended in France - and that has created even more labor problems.

The degraded service has been dramatic and a common topic across France for years. The health care system is used by everyone, so politicians haven’t been able to limit the negative impact to just the lower classes.

The first round of legislative elections is less than a week away. The strike is a black eye for President Emmanuel Macron just as he’s trying to preserve his absolute majority in Parliament, which is crucial for him to be able to force through more neoliberal austerity measures.