The leader of one of the major French trade unions is calling for a strike to pressure President Emmanuel Macron to "respect the result" of the parliamentary election and allow a left-led coalition government to take office.
There has been a political deadlock in the country since none of the three largest forces in the election gained a majority. The Left Alliance NFP won the most seats in parliament, followed by Macron's centrist alliance and the far-right party NR.
The three largest parties in NFP – the radical left LFI, the traditional Socialist Party, and the Greens – have urged Macron to let them propose a prime minister and form a government.
However, so far the President has called for a broader coalition, and many in his camp see it as out of the question to cooperate with LFI.
The leader of the CGT trade union, Sophie Binet, is urging union members to take to the streets and demonstrate for the Left Alliance to be allowed to form a government.
There must be popular pressure so that the election result is respected, she says in an interview with the media company LCI.
