Hit Them Where it Hurts: Threat to Shut Off Power to Elite Cannes Film Festival to Protest Macron

Czech model Petra Nemcova poses as she arrives on May 20, 2017 for the screening of the fi
ANTONIN THUILLIER/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

Hollywood stars may be left in the dark at the annual Cannes Film Festival as France’s most prominent energy union has threatened to cut the power to the glamourous event in protest against the globalist government of President Emmanuel Macron.

Earlier this month, President Macron begged the enraged French public to give him 100 days to prove the worth of his continued rule following a month of protests, labour strikes, and riots across the nation in response to the dire economic state and the controversial move to pass through pension reforms without a vote. In response, the CGT trade union confederation vowed to keep up the pressure and usher in “100 days of anger”.

Now it appears that the populist uprising has found an elitist event as a platform to air their frustration on the world stage, with the energy worker branch of CGT threatening to literally pull the plug on the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival, which will see celebrities from across the world descend upon the resort town on the French Riviera in May.

Appearing on the BFMTV news network, the secretary general of the CGT Energy Union, Fabrice Coudour said via Euronews: “We’re showing that we’re not turning the page. We’re still angry and we want to express it where it’s possible, particularly in public events.”

“Our aim isn’t to stop (the events) going ahead but rather to have a platform and make ourselves heard locally and by elected politicians. We don’t doubt that even at the Cannes Film Festival or elsewhere there are personalities who share our point of view,” Coudour added.

The glitzy film event is not the only elitist gathering in the crosshairs, however, with the union vowing to disrupt a series of cultural and sporting events in May, and even turning off the power for publicity visits made by President Macron himself as he tours the country.

“In May, do what you like! The Cannes Film Festival, the Monaco Grand Prix, the Roland-Garros tournament, the Avignon Festival could be in the dark! We won’t give up!” the union said in a statement.

Unions in France have previously used power cuts to make political messages, with the same CGT union shutting off the power to the Montpellier airport and a nearby school last week during a visit from President Macron in response to his use of  “anti-democratic methods” to pass his pension reforms, which raised the age of retirement from 62 to 64-years-old.

However, while the issue of retirement has been the main focus of international reports on the French protests, anger had been growing at the neo-liberal government of Macron for some time, with large public sector union strikes over demands for cost of living pay increases stretching back to last autumn.

The economic situation in France has been so devastating for those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, that an estimated one in four people earning minimum wage or less have begun skipping meals due to rampant food inflation.

The fact that President Macron has spent his political capital on pensions rather than alleviating the financial strain of the French public has confirmed in the minds of many the former investment banker’s allegiances to the elites, therefore being branded as the “president of the rich“.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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