In the capital, between 18,000 and 50,000 demonstrators marched between the Republic and the Nation. With disparate slogans, trade union organizations and left-wing parties have not managed to mobilize as much as in 2023.
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“I find that it has become very complicated to mobilize people”, regrets Farida, 66 years old, member of the CGT of Seine-Saint-Denis. Under a gray sky, dotted with a few drops of rain, the Parisian procession of the May 1st demonstration did not fill up this year from the Place de la République to the Place de la Nation. Between 18,000, according to the police headquarters, and 50,000 demonstrators, according to the CGT, marched in the capital on Wednesday, around ten times fewer than in 2023, when Labor Day turned into mobilization against labor reform. retirements. “We won over a lot of activists with the mobilization against pensions, but we must recognize that we did not win,” notes Val, a young activist from the Solidaires trade union.
For the 2024 edition, the unions did not come together around a common call. The delegations therefore met around scattered slogans: against the austerity policies of Gabriel Attal’s government, for peace in the Middle East, or even, a few weeks before the European elections, for a Europe “more protective”. Between the balloons of the various trade union organizations and the tanks of the left-wing political parties, we find jumbled together a few “yellow vests”, Palestinian flags, but also Kanak flags, demands against the organization of the Olympic Games in Paris or even for the release by Turkey of Abdullah Ocalan, the historic leader of the Kurds of the PKK.
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“It is time to take general action” And “to raise awareness”, said the leader of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, at the start of the demonstration. But in the procession, many voices are being won over by pessimism. “We are in a demonstration of convinced people, but it does not unite beyond that. There is anger which adds up, but which does not form a great mobilization”notes Maxime, 25, a supervisor in a college. “We feel a certain resignation. Last year, the outcome of the pension reform was a bit of a cold shower. And it’s easier to mobilize on a concrete slogan than on a whole series of various demands”adds a thirty-year-old a little further on.
“Many workers are being beaten”
There are several who also mention the “police repression” as a demobilization factor. “I think there is a certain resignation, because each time, we either face the CRS in the street, or we face contempt from the government in Parliament. Our political system is at the end of its rope. breath”, judge Maëva. Victor, a 27-year-old Solidaire member, says that he deserted the processions for several years after being traumatized by the throwing of a de-encirclement grenade very close to him during a mobilization of “yellow vests”. “I was very scared, but I come back today telling myself that May 1st is generally less violent”he confides.
“People affected by the latest reforms, whether it is the immigration law or the RSA project, it is complicated to mobilize them”estimates Anna, 25 years old. “At the moment, there are a lot of workers who are taking hits and who don’t feel able to fight back”explains Eric, Lutte Ouvrière activist from Seine-Saint-Denis. “People no longer have the means to strike. The public service is increasingly weakened and, in the private sector, it is impossible to express oneself”estimates Julie, 42, who says she is demonstrating for the second time in her life.
“I feel that people are torn between resignation and anger.”
Julie, protesterat franceinfo
On the Parisian sidewalks, amid slogans hostile to the government, many bear witness to this precariousness, in the context of high inflation which has marked the last two years. “We have difficulty paying rent, electricity bills, food shopping… And yet, I don’t have children”testifies Maxime, the college supervisor. “I received a letter this week from the CAF written in capital letters demanding 800 euros of overpayment. It’s violent. I am in the voluntary sector and I receive 1,300 euros per month”adds Sabine, 42, who denounces “the hunt for the precarious” led by the government.
Emmanuel Macron is one of the favorite targets of the protesters’ anger. The immigration law and pension reform have left their mark. The future unemployment insurance reform project also provokes many hostile reactions. “The unemployment insurance accounts are green, we have already received five reforms in seven years of Emmanuel Macron’s mandate”notably launched the general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet. “It is necessary that [le chef de l’Etat] stop taking our dues money as his cash drawer.”
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“They are trying to save money at the expense of the unemployed”also denounces Val, from the Solidaires union. “The unemployed have an interest in looking for work, because they will be controlled more and more”worries Farida, soon to retire from the civil service. “There is a bit of this obsession with unemployment at 5%, in order to increase the working population, but the government completely abandons the question of dignity at work and productivity”estimates Jacques, a 27-year-old protester.
“I’m afraid that the far right will end up winning”
While waiting to know if this new government project will be likely to remobilize social forces, the demonstrators are also worried about the ambient political climate. “We remain quite combative, but I fear that it will be the extreme right which ends up winning, because I find it more and more present in the media, in society, in political projects… But we must to keep hope”confides Sanaa, 27 years old. “The climate is complicated, between divisions on the left and the rise of the extreme right. We must succeed in involving young people and getting them to vote”recommends Enzo, 29, who has just joined the Ecologists-EELV movement.
Charles Silvain, activist with the Young Socialists and candidate on Raphaël Glucksmann’s PS-Place publique list, is trying to talk about“Social Europe” and to mobilize in view of the European elections of June 9 : “We must encourage people to vote to strengthen the left-wing lists in Parliament [européen]. Then, after these deadlines, we will have to think about discussing the union of the left again.” A discussion currently poorly underway, judging by the fate reserved for Raphaël Glucksmann, prevented from joining the procession in Saint-Etienne by activists who insulted him and bombarded him with paint.