France nationwide strike and protests over wages and cost of living, Digi Mart USA News (France): Unions have called on public and private sector employees to strike over wages on Thursday, with young people and retirees invited to join demonstrations, as the government is expected to respond with concrete measures. This is the first call since the start of the autumn season to involve both the public and private sectors.
High school and university students, who have continued a movement that began in mid-September, have joined the call. The yellow vest movement has also revived protests against the high cost of living over the past three Saturdays, and farmers from the Confédération paysanne are also taking part, among others.
Marylise Léon, general secretary of the CFDT, said “it will be a fine mobilization,” citing turnout levels comparable to those seen during the pension protests. In 2023, the pension issue drew nearly 1.3 million people on certain days over several months, according to the authorities.
For Thursday, authorities expect 500,000 to 700,000 people outside Paris and 40,000 to 80,000 people in the capital. On Wednesday evening, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced the deployment of 70,000 police officers and gendarmes, promising “an extremely firm response” to any “excesses.”
The extent of strike participation in companies remains uncertain, given the current weakness of purchasing power.
Unions are demanding an increase in the minimum wage (Smic), which has not received a discretionary boost since 2012, a general pay raise for all salaries, greater tax fairness, the preservation of public services, and better study conditions for young people.
Regarding the minimum wage, which is the only wage in France that rises automatically, the Labor Minister said on Tuesday he hoped to make announcements “around November 5,” without specifying whether this would include a discretionary increase to the Smic.
Frédéric Souillot of FO urged the government in Le Parisien to “speed up on the Smic” and launch a “flash” wage negotiation immediately, also envisioning “other demonstrations” and a renewable strike.
Rising fuel prices and a proposed austerity budget have placed purchasing power at the heart of the social discontent, which has grown steadily since late summer. According to a barometer published Wednesday by organizations in the Pacte du pouvoir de vivre, including the CFDT, one in two people say they struggle to make ends meet with their household resources.
Following demonstrations marked by violence and clashes with police, particularly on October 17, Thursday’s mobilization is accompanied by protests over alleged infringements on the right to demonstrate, as several cities have banned marches in parts of their city centers.
In Toulouse, the intersyndical coalition decided to keep its original route. In Bordeaux, an agreement was reached after lengthy negotiations on a city-center route with a restricted perimeter along the most commercial streets, according to the prefecture.
In Lyon, the prefecture, which had banned the march in the hyper-center and proposed an alternative route, won its case in court.
In Paris, the administrative court on Wednesday evening validated the alternative route proposed by the Paris police prefecture between the Place de la République and the Place de la Nation, which organizers had contested.
Vincent Gautheron, general secretary of the CGT Île-de-France, told AFP that unions would call on people to join that route “with full responsibility.” Sophie Binet said “we are in an extremely serious moment with a very dangerous authoritarian drift by the government.”
Several organizations, including the Syndicat de la magistrature, the Syndicat des avocats de France and the Ligue des droits de l’homme, also denounced an “authoritarian shift” and referred the matter to the Conseil d’État.
Fabrice Fort, a central CGT union delegate at Renault Trucks, observed a cumulative effect: “Sympathy for the high school and university movement is not weakening, and people are questioning restrictions on freedoms, around bans on demonstrating. This has sparked a reaction from people who usually do not speak out much,” predicting strong mobilization.
Anger is expected to continue beyond Thursday. The yellow vest coordination has called for a rally on Saturday at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, even though it is banned.
Together with housing rights unions and associations in six other European countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Greece and the United Kingdom), it also calls for “coordinated demonstrations” against the high cost of living at the end of November.
