Photo: AFP
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of cities across France to demand the repeal of the pension reform and commemorate International Workers’ Day, and at least 30 protesters were detained in incidents in Paris and another 14 in Nantes.
Workers and their unions held more than 300 demonstrations throughout France to demand that the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64 not be applieda measure that was already adopted by decree by President Emmanuel Macron despite months of protests.
The CGT leader, Sophie Binet, called for a combative but “festive” day, and although the demonstrations were mostly peaceful, the French Police repressed protesters in Nantes, Lyon and Paris.
In Nantes, in western France, police repression broke out shortly after the start of the May 1 parade, which brought together 17,500 people according to the police and some 80,000 according to the CGT, the daily Le Figaro reported.
Photo: AFP
Police said they arrested 14 protesters in Nantes for carrying out riots.
In Paris, protesters threw blunt objects at the police, who fired gas and some charges at the crowd, according to images from local television channels.
Thirty protesters were detained in the capital, police said.
historic journey
Laurent Berger, leader of the French CFDT union, told France Info radio he was expecting a “historic” day, with all unions coming together for the first time since 2009 and with up to 1.5 million people marching.
“This May 1 also serves to say that we want our aspirations to be put on the agenda: salary increases, equality between women and men, improvement of working conditions and considering environmental issues,” said his CGT counterpart, Binet, to France 2.
“This May 1 also serves to say that we want our aspirations to be put on the agenda: salary increases, equality between women and men, improvement of working conditions and considering environmental issues”
It is estimated that only in Paris, the capital, more than 100,000 people took to the streets.
The Police deployed more than 5,000 riot officers in the capital.
Protesters threw paint at the facade of the Ritz hotel and the Ministry of Justice in the city center’s Place Vendome.
The action, claimed by the activists of the Última Renovación group, sought to protest “against the rich and in solidarity with the workers”as explained by the group.
Other protests against the pension reform took place throughout the weekend and even caused interruptions and cuts in air traffic in the country, with about 30% of flights cancelled.
the fight continues
Unions in France are determined to continue the fight against an “unfair” reform that they believe punishes women who have interrupted their careers to care for children, and for those who started working very young.
Their eyes are on the Constitutional Council, which on Wednesday must decide whether to validate a request from the left-wing opposition to organize a referendum that limits the retirement age to 62 years.
The body has already rejected a first similar proposal.
Macron, who defends the reform as a way to avoid a future deficit in the pension fund, seeks for his part to relaunch his second term until 2027. But on his visits to France he is not without booing.
One of the points on its roadmap to overcome the current social crisis is to negotiate an improvement in working conditions and, in this sense, its Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, wants to meet with the unions in the coming days.
But these meetings could break union unity.
Berger, of the moderate CFDT union, said he would attend the meeting if invited, while the more hawkish Binet stressed that they would decide “together” on Tuesday morning.
