Thousands of people marched in Paris on Sunday at the initiative of the left-wing opposition to Emmanuel Macron, who hopes to contribute to “the construction of a new Popular Front” in France, against the backdrop of a fuel shortage caused by a strike.
This “march against the high cost of living and climate inaction”, supported by associations and trade union federations, gathered shortly after 4 p.m. 140,000 participants according to the organizers and 30,000 according to the police services.
“It’s the great conjunction, it’s us who are starting it with this march which is a huge success”, welcomed the leader of the opposition party La France Insoumise (LFI) Jean-Luc Mélenchon from a truck at the middle of the crowd, announcing “the construction of a new Popular Front which will exercise power in the country when the time comes”.
He defended the idea of a “general strike” on Tuesday, relaying calls made in this direction, in particular in transport (SNCF, RATP, dockers) and in the public service.
“The power of our march is a support for the mobilization of employees, in particular that which will take place” on Tuesday, and “we must think of all this as a whole, which shoulders each other, which helps each other”, estimated Sunday Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
In the procession, representatives of all left-wing parties, as well as the Nobel Prize for Literature Annie Ernaux had made the trip.
“The message is simple: we want a better sharing of wealth”, for his part estimated the number one of the socialist party 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 with some Phrygian caps, and punctuated by songs, and even by Star Wars music.
If the demonstration took place without serious confrontation in the middle of the afternoon, broken windows and 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.
Before a speech expected in the evening of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal castigated him “a march of supporters of the blocking of the country”, in reference to a strike for wages in refineries and depots of TotalEnergies, which began nearly three weeks ago, leading to a shortage of fuel which is affecting many sectors of activity.
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 their quest for fuel all over France this weekend, many farmers fear not being able to sow winter cereals on time, lack of fuel, especially in the north of the country.
” 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).
Gabriel Attal judged 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 Medef employers’ federation, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, saying that “the 150 people in the refineries are taking the French hostage » and that it is necessary « to pass to the requisitions » at TotalEnergies.
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 from the Lot, the refinery 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.