Protestsupdated 58m ago2 min read
Archive photo · 11 May 2019Unions Stage Nationwide Strikes in France as Police Clash With Black Bloc in Lyon
“criticising decisions by authorities in cities such as Rennes, Toulouse and Lyon”
“vowing ‘an extremely firm response’ to any potential outbreaks of violence.”
Photo: Anthospace, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Hundreds of thousands join nationwide strikes across France demanding higher wages and cost-of-living relief. Police clash with protesters in Lyon amid protests and one-day public sector strike.
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Strike day, wider unrest
France saw nationwide strikes and demonstrations on Thursday as unions demanded higher wages and backed a growing high school protest movement, with major marches held in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities. Sophie Binet of the CGT said more than 250,000 people had taken to the streets in almost 70 towns and cities by 13:00, and she said it was "just the start".
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 70,000 police were being deployed, vowing "an extremely firm response" to any potential outbreaks of violence. The protests disrupted schools, hospitals and public transport, and the Eiffel Tower was shut for the day, while a car was set alight near the Gallieni bridge over the Rhône river in central Lyon as hundreds of people belonging to the radical left-wing "black bloc" clashed with police.
Clashes, routes, and security
In Paris, protesters gathered under trade union banners at Place de la Republique, where hundreds of musicians played brass, string and percussion instruments and choirs turned the square into a noisy, colourful focal point of dissent. The five unions combined forces across the public and private sector, announcing more than 250 separate actions, while the vice-president of the Unef student union, Alice De Brito, said: "Now it's not only about [investing in] public services in education and higher education, it's about all of the public services in France,".
The march was eventually allowed in central Paris but not along the route proposed by the unions between Place de la Bastille and Place de la Concorde, and the CFDT leader said she would be happy if 800,000 people turned out. In Lyon, the Interior Ministry said a car was set alight near the Gallieni bridge as "black bloc" clashed with police, and the BBC reported clashes in Rennes where the local prefect said a "hostile group of masked individuals" had gathered in front of the main union march.
Pressure on Macron, next steps
The protests and strike action added to pressure on President Emmanuel Macron in his final months in office, with the BBC saying unions vowed to take the wave of protests that began in September "to the next level". School students were promised to have Parcoursup university admissions platform reformed and eventually replaced by 2028, while the government sought to appease public anger over rising prices by releasing 10 million barrels of diesel from strategic reserves.
The education ministry reported that 16% of teachers had gone on strike, and unions said disruption had affected more than one in four lycées, which cater for 15-18 year-olds, as well as the vast majority of universities. A revived gilets jaunes movement called for further blockades and protests on Friday and Saturday too, after violence that broke out in towns and cities on October 17 led to more than 2,000 stores being looted and historic buildings being set on fire.