(Paris) Nearly 800,000 people, according to the police, marched across France on Monday during a “combative” May Day, marked by violence and an inter-union still united against the pension reform even if the strategies could quickly diverge on the continuation of the movement.
If it was far from the record levels of the end of January, when nearly 1.3 million people had marched according to the Ministry of the Interior, the mobilization during this first unitary Labor Day since 2009 remained strong after 12 days of parades and well beyond a classic May Day.
The Ministry of the Interior counted 782,000 demonstrators, including 112,000 in Paris. The CGT claimed 2.3 million demonstrators, including 550,000 in Paris. They were 94,000 in the capital according to a count by the firm Occurrence for a media collective, including AFP.
“It is a very strong day which shows the determination to obtain the withdrawal of the pension reform. We made all the predictions lie since the government announced that there would be a demobilization ”, rejoiced the general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet on BFMTV.
“It’s a big May Day. It’s not a last stand, it’s the challenge of the world of work to this reform, “also underlined the leader of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, at the start of the Paris demonstration.
If the mobilization was strong in Paris, the police also counted 16,300 demonstrators in Caen, 15,000 in Brest or 14,000 in Clermont-Ferrand.
After more than three months of conflict, the demonstrators still said they were as determined to obtain its withdrawal, like Lucie Acker in Strasbourg. “I feel anger, revolt even against the contempt of this government. I am really disgusted by the entry into force of the pension reform. I even felt a form of humiliation to be so ignored, ”denounced this 42-year-old local authority executive.
The parades were marked by clashes in several cities in France, and mainly in Paris, Nantes and Lyon.
“While the vast majority of demonstrators were pacifists of course, in Paris, Lyon and Nantes in particular, the police faced extremely violent thugs who came with one objective: to kill cops and attack the property of others”, denounced on Twitter the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
In Paris, “a police officer was seriously injured, burned following a throw of a Molotov cocktail”, continued Mr. Darmanin. The police headquarters counted “several injured among the police, including ten already taken to hospital”.
According to a provisional report from Beauvau, nearly 200 people had been arrested at 6 p.m. in France, including 68 in Paris.
In the capital, the violence intensified when the pre-cortège arrived at Place de la Nation, the end of the parade. Hundreds of “black blocks” notably used fireworks in direct fire at the police, who responded with a lot of tear gas and defensive grenades.
In Nantes, the clashes, which lasted a good part of the afternoon, left five injured, including a gendarme and a demonstrator hit in the hand, according to the prefecture. Authorities also reported 40 arrests in Lyon.
This May 1 comes after the validation of the main part of the text by the Constitutional Council and its promulgation in stride.
If the anger remains strong, some in the government want to believe “that we have spent the brunt in terms of protest”.
Emmanuel Macron gave himself April 17 “100 days of appeasement” and “action” to relaunch his five-year term. Elisabeth Borne will send invitations to the unions “in the coming days”, according to the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt.
For their part, the unions now have “two deadlines in sight” according to Ms. Binet: May 3, when the “Sages” will decide on a second request for a referendum of shared initiative (RIP), and especially on June 8, when a bill from the group of deputies Liot repealing the reform will be on the menu of the Assembly and could serve as a reason for a new day of demonstrations.
In the meantime, the challenge for the intersyndicale will be to remain united as differences begin to emerge in the face of invitations from the executive to resume dialogue on other work-related topics.
Already, Laurent Berger has announced that the CFDT “would discuss” with the Prime Minister if she was invited, while Sophie Binet recalled that the inter-union had planned to take the decision “together” Tuesday morning.
“The massive and determined mobilization that we had today, it obliges us tomorrow to continue in union unity to fight this law on pensions”, judged Frédéric Souillot (FO).
“We can’t skip meetings at Matignon indefinitely. We need a renewed balance of power, it’s the writing of a new chapter, ”argued François Hommeril (CFE-CGC).
