Several tens of thousands of people marched in Paris on Sunday at the initiative of the left-wing opposition, which hopes to contribute to “the construction of a new Popular Front” in France, against the backdrop of fuel shortages caused by a strike.
This “march against high cost of living and climate inaction” brought together 140,000 participants according to the organizers, 30,000 according to the police and 29,500 according to a count by the cabinet Occurrence for a media collective, including AFP.
“It is the great conjunction, it is we who are starting it with this march”, welcomed the leader of the opposition party La France Insoumise (LFI) Jean-Luc Mélenchon, speaking from a truck at the in the middle of the crowd, before announcing “the construction of a new Popular Front which will exercise power in the country when the time comes”.
This left-wing coalition that came to power in 1936 has gone down in history for having approved large wage increases and created the first paid holidays.
Mr. Mélenchon also called for a “general strike” next Tuesday, relaying calls made in this direction, in particular in transport (French railways, Paris metro, dockers) and the public service.
“A better distribution of wealth”
In the procession, representatives of all left-wing parties, as well as the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature, Annie Ernaux, had made the trip.
“The message is simple: we want a better sharing of wealth,” said the number one of the Socialist Party (PS) Olivier Faure.
For Christopher Savidan, 47, unemployed for five years and LFI activist, “it is time to wake up. The people upstairs are above ground. We pay taxes, we don’t know why, everything goes down the drain. Logic dictates that all struggles coalesce”.
Many “yellow vests” but also many retirees were also visible in a colorful parade, punctuated by songs.
If the demonstration took place without any serious confrontation, some scuffles broke out on the sidelines of the parade, noted an AFP journalist. The police carried out several charges and used tear gas, after throwing projectiles in their direction. A bank branch was ransacked by men dressed in black and masked.
The Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal castigated “a march by supporters of the blocking of the country”. An allusion to the ongoing strike for wages in the refineries and depots of the oil group TotalEnergies, which began almost three weeks ago and which is causing fuel shortages affecting many sectors of activity.
In the evening, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who spoke on television, did not comment on the demonstration. But she tried to defuse any contagion in advance: “I say it clearly, all the companies which can must open negotiations and increase wages, meet the expectations of employees”.
Nearly one in three service stations (27.3%) lacked at least one product on Saturday, according to the government. In the Paris region, the situation was more tense with 39.9% of service stations in difficulty.
In addition to motorists and especially health professionals who continued this weekend their quest for fuel all over France, many farmers fear not being able to sow their winter cereals on time, especially in the North.
” Limits “
Despite a wage agreement with two majority unions, the strike was extended by the CGT union until Tuesday for the Normandy refinery located near Le Havre (north-west), the largest in France, and until Wednesday for that of Donges (west).
Mr. Attal judged on Sunday “unacceptable that there is the continuation of blockages even though majority agreements have been found to increase wages in companies”.
“This is not a normal strike, the right to strike has limits”, stormed the president of the employers’ association (Medef), Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, judging that “the 150 people from the refineries take the French hostage » and that it is necessary « to pass to the requisitions ».
The CGT therefore intends to hold until Tuesday, a day of interprofessional “mobilization and strike” to which other unions have also called (FO, Solidaires and the FSU).
For Jacques Montal, a retired railway protester, the requisitions that took place at Esso-ExxonMobil “it goes very far”. “Today is a first step, Tuesday I think there will be a strong movement. And it is quite possible that it will continue after Tuesday.