November 21, 2007 (LPAC)--Mass strike ferment continued on November 20 in France, as about half of the nation's civil servants went on strike. More than 500,000 demonstrators took to the streets of the nation's big cities, including 40,000 youth from universities and high schools, reports Nouvelle Solidarite in Paris. As media-government propaganda continued painting a picture of "privileged workers" or strike, the mobilization is aimed at purchasing power, since food and energy prices are increasing by double digits from January on.

Jacques Cheminade, leader of Solidarite et Progres, warned in October against an accelerated destruction of standards of living. Some 45,000 copies of his call for an "economic firewall" to protect the population, have been circulated by the French LaRouche Youth Movement into the ongoing national ferment.

Acting to stop the strikes, sophist French President Nicholas Sarkozy quoted a 1930's Communist leader to preach a "wise return to work," and announced that he will speak up in the coming days on solutions to the purchasing power issue.

Meanwhile, Trotskyist-Guevarist leader Besancenot has been launched, to radicalize the movement and be the "symbol" of the social protest. Besancenot's youth are participating in radical-violent blockades of universities and trying to ignite protest in high schools.

A hard nucleus of workers, mainly among railway employees, have said they will never go back to work until Sarkozy's pension "reforms" are stopped, and there are a lot of tensions among unions. The CFDT union confederation leader was kicked out of the Paris demonstration by other demonstrators.