The Return of the Yellow Vests
If the title above sounded more like an 80s action movie, or a squad of superheroes in yet another dystopian universe, it most definitely is a consequence of my flare for dramatization, but you just might want to read on. If the words, however, automatically induced an image of a mob of protesters, donning flashing yellow, simmering with an apoplectic fury, you must have a serendipitous knack for guessing (or probably are politically informed, but let’s face it, the former is far more interesting). Originating in France, yet far from a fashion statement, the yellow vest movement—or, the movement gilets jaunes, if you want to sound more sophisticated because French just does that—is a spontaneous political movement that ignited in November 2018 and is still kindling over a year later.
Distingué, the peri-urban residents of France require private modes of transportation unlike the urban dwellers who are affluent enough to travel with the daily assistance of public transport given their higher sources of income. And so, president of France Emmanuel Macron, or as he has been dubbed, the “president of the rich,” would most likely pose as the maleficent villain in the narrative of the yellow vest movement. The protesters initiated this battle in response to a hike in fuel prices in October 2018, lamenting the disproportionate burden of taxes that had fallen upon the working and middle class. An online petition created in May 2018 to lower fuel taxes gathered the support of almost a million signatures, and before Macron could say macaron, the disgruntled population had taken to the streets on the 17th of November, marking the beginning of an epic struggle.
The move to levy fuel taxes struck a chord with the public, interpreted as yet another shrug of indifference towards the suburbanites and rural dwellers of France from the upper echelons of society, oblivious to the necessities and workings of their lives. The yellow vests have now demanded policy changes to arrangements that play favorites with the wealthy, lowering fuel taxes and raising the minimum wage being a couple examples from the eclectic manifesto of 42 demands. And why fashion yellow of all the colors known to humankind, you ask? The credit goes to a viral video encouraging fellow motorists to wear their hi-vis yellow vests (required to be stored in vehicles by a 2008 French law) as a symbol of solidarity. And thus the yellow vest movement was born.
The yellow vest movement is still kindling over a year later.
Macron’s popularity had already been dwindling by early 2018, due to a lack of approval of his reformist approach in practice. He hadn’t ever faced serious political opposition before, and in his desire to advance France’s position in the global economy by discouraging fossil fuel use, he was caught in an unprecedented wave of uprising against the entire establishment. Just as of December 2019, the protesters reappeared in full force, this time infuriated by Macron’s proposal of a redesigned pension plan. The current system works in a classic redistributive manner with a legal retirement age of 62, where benefits of regularly paid payroll taxes are earned after 41 to 43 years of contribution. The catch? There exist a boggling 42 different kinds of plans, each managed by labor unions, the state, or a mix. Macron’s desire to streamline the 42 schemes into a single points-based system has not bode well with the public, leaving unions feeling insecure of their workers’ rights.
On one side, instead of splurging 14% of their GDP in pension plans, Macron wishes to stabilize France’s financial footing to prevent an economic collapse and create a simpler system in the process. With rising life expectancies, he intends to introduce a shiny “pivot age” of 64 after which members are to receive their full pension, giving a whole new meaning to the Beatles’ When I’m 64. But like any adult who is more than likely to be dissatisfied with their occupation, who wants to work an extra two years of their life? The already disgruntled rural workers are afraid they will miss out in the process because a special few of the dizzying 42 plans give them better benefits than others, which might be lost in the procedure of unification. The lack of clarity from the government in defining how exactly a points-based system would function has left the public distressed, failing to pacify infuriated unions and only angering the moderately opposed.
The gilets jaunes have given inspiration to other protesters who have been subject to similar democratic deficiencies. Grievances of social inequality have been given a voice by the yellow vests and are now echoing around the globe, from Israel to Latvia to Russia, as protesters congress in yellow vests, a fresh symbol of revolt. As for the true gilets jaunes, their fire is far from being extinguished, and whether their thirst for justice is quenched is yet to be seen.