Tens of thousands took to the streets in France, on Saturday, to protest against the high cost of living and to demand support for youth and increased spending on education, in an attempt to maintain pressure on the government before talks with unions and employers scheduled for Monday.
The authorities counted 146,000 participants throughout France, including 46,000 in Paris, while organizers from the Youth Trade Union Coordination announced the participation of 250,000 demonstrators in France, including 75,000 in Paris, a number that is much lower than the numbers that ranged between 500,000 and 800,000 demonstrators on the previous Saturdays.
The mobilization witnessed a decline in participation compared to the previous three weeks, according to the Interior Minister’s circles, amid heavy security deployment, arrests in Paris, and the use of tear gas to disperse a gathering in Lyon.
The movements come after two days of widespread union demonstrations, and before a social conference that Prime Minister Sebastian Lecorno called for Monday morning with unions and employers, followed by meetings with representatives of high school and university students.
March in Paris and arrests
In the capital, an authorized march was launched from Republic Square towards Nation Square, at the invitation of student and youth unions and regional branches of unions, including CGT and CFDT, under the slogan “Against the high cost of living and for the sake of youth.”
The march proceeded quietly at its beginning, and young people, school and university students constituted a large portion of its participants.
In a separate move, supporters of the "yellow vest" movement tried to gather in Place de la Concorde, despite the authorities' decision to ban their gathering.
Agence France-Presse reported that police quietly arrested, in the early afternoon near Place de la Concorde, both Benjamin Pal, a member of the movement’s coordination, and its spokeswoman, Azelma Segou, and the two were placed in custody pending investigation, according to France 3.
In Lyon, security forces used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people, who local authorities said participated in an unannounced gathering inside an area of the city center where demonstrations are prohibited.
According to the Ministry of Interior, the number of detainees reached 18 people by 2 p.m. local time, compared to 27 at the same time the previous Saturday, while it described the general situation as calm and under control.
The authorities deployed 70,000 police and gendarmes across the country, as part of measures aimed at avoiding a repeat of the riots and looting that some areas witnessed on October 17.
The measures included banning demonstrations in the centers of a number of cities, and conducting more than 15,600 preventive inspections, according to the Interior Ministry.
Stay tuned for the government's response to wage demands
The crisis began with protests by high school students over education conditions in mid-September, before expanding to include demands related to wages, purchasing power, and objection to the policies of President Emmanuel Macron.
Thursday's demonstrations witnessed the participation of 575,000 people, including 65,000 in Paris, according to the final tally of the authorities, while the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) estimated participation at about 1.6 million people.
In a letter addressed to the social partners on Friday, Lecornu confirmed that he was listening to the demands related to wages and purchasing power, and to the concerns of employers, saying that Monday’s conference would allow for the presentation of “concrete responses to the aspirations of the French.”
The Confederation of French Democratic Labor (CFDT), the largest French union, is demanding a net increase of 100 euros in the minimum wage.
Its Secretary-General, Marielles Leon, said the scale of Thursday's demonstrations should make the government realize that it cannot wait until the presidential elections to take action.
The government has been hinting for days that it is ready to increase the minimum wage, but Agence France-Presse suggests that the size of the increase will fall below the level of union demands.
