France, at the moment, is seemingly in chaos. Strikes are disrupting vital public services, including rail travel. Air France pilots say that they, too, will strike between June 11 and June 14, just in time for the European soccer championship which begins in France on Friday. Major unions have called for a national day of protest on Tuesday. All this threatens France’s image, its economy and its security.

But for what? The immediate cause is a labor reform bill backed by the government of François Hollande that would ease some worker protections in the hope of encouraging job growth. The larger cause is a deep sense of betrayal on France’s left, unhappy with what it sees as a rightward turn by Mr. Hollande’s Socialist government.

Outrage on the left forced Mr. Hollande to abandon a bill in March that would have stripped some French of their citizenship if convicted of terrorism. Many French see the labor-reform bill as a last straw. Since the Hollande government introduced the bill in March, hundreds of thousands of people have marched in protest across France, clashing violently with police at times.

Last month, using its executive authority, the government rammed the bill through a recalcitrant National Assembly. That prompted a series of strikes called by the General Confederation of Labor union, or C.G.T., that disrupted public transportation and rail travel, forced flight cancellations and, last month, caused temporary fuel shortages when unions shut down oil refineries. Now come the pilots, sensing their own opportunity to inflict pain.