France nationwide strike November 5 unions wages cost of living, Digi Mart USA News (France): Unions are calling on private and public sector employees, retirees, high school students and university students to strike and march across France this Thursday to demand better wages. According to the CGT, more than 250 rallies and actions are planned throughout the country.
Authorities expect between 500,000 and 700,000 people outside Paris and between 40,000 and 80,000 in the capital, which would exceed the 550,000 counted by the Interior Ministry on October 17. The government says it is “extremely vigilant,” and 70,000 police officers and gendarmes have been deployed.
In Paris, the police prefecture banned the route the unions had requested between the Bastille and Concorde squares less than 24 hours before the march. It substituted a route between République and Nation, and an administrative court rejected the unions’ challenge on Wednesday evening.
Leaders of the CGT and CFDT criticized the organization of the demonstrations, saying processions are often far from city centers and that late decisions complicate security planning. According to CGT leader Sophie Binet, 20 departments are affected by route restrictions.
Thursday’s action follows three consecutive Saturdays of mobilization against the cost of living, which borrowed the codes of the yellow vest movement and was backed only by some unions. This time, all major workers’ organizations are taking part, including the supervisory union CFE-CGC, which had initially been more reserved.
The SNCF expects traffic to be “disrupted” on most regional and Île-de-France lines and “slightly disrupted” on TGV high-speed trains. The Education Ministry expects about 17% of primary school teachers to strike.
Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said the executive does not want to relive the events of October 17, when violence and looting occurred alongside marches in several cities. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez unveiled a “robust” security plan for what he called a “sensitive” day, similar to the one used on October 31.
Separately, unions and associations from seven European countries met in Paris on Tuesday and called for coordinated demonstrations against the cost of living at the end of November, aiming for “millions” of participants on November 20, 21 and 22.
