French nationwide strike and protests over purchasing power, Digi Mart USA News (France): The Interior Ministry counted 575,000 protesters across France, more than on October 17 (550,000), October 24 (410,000) and October 31 (320,000). The CGT union claimed nearly 1.6 million demonstrators, and both figures represent the largest one-day mobilization this autumn.
Hundreds of thousands of employees, civil servants, students, high school pupils and retirees marched to demand greater purchasing power. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a “social conference” on Monday with trade unions and employer organizations.
One Paris protester near retirement said he could no longer afford restaurants or leisure and could only afford to eat and pay for housing.
CGT leader Sophie Binet, at the head of the Paris march, said the union considered the day a success and demanded a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage (SMIC). CFDT leader Marylise Léon called for a 100-euro minimum wage boost and “concrete answers” to the difficulty many French people face in making ends meet.
The Paris march began with a minute of silence for the victims of a racist attack in the Yvelines. Presidential candidates Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Marine Tondelier and Raphaël Glucksmann were among the marchers.
Glucksmann, who was booed on arrival, left after more than an hour following a prefecture report of “black bloc” activists at the Place de la République.
High school pupils and students joined the action, with blockade attempts in Strasbourg, Marseille and Bordeaux. Yellow vest protesters, who have revived protests against the high cost of living over the past three Saturdays, and farmers from the Confédération paysanne also took part.
The Snes-FSU union said nearly 1,000 high schools were blocked or administratively closed on Thursday, while the government counted only 81 of the country’s 3,700. The government said a third of higher education institutions were disrupted, and the Union étudiante said 90 percent of the roughly 70 universities were mobilized.
Around 16 percent of teachers were on strike according to the Education Ministry, and more than one in three SNCF rail workers struck, according to CGT Cheminots deputy general secretary Romain Pitelet, while transport was otherwise broadly little disrupted.
Public anger is not expected to subside soon, with youth organizations and yellow vest groups promising new actions on Saturday for the “Act IV” of their movement launched on October 17.
