International Workers' Day was marked by a massive
turnout to demonstrate against the pension reform. However, there was also an
increase in clashes in several cities. According to a provisional report from
the Ministry of the Interior, 291 people were arrested throughout France, and
108 police officers and armed officers were injured.
By Julie
Carriat
Published
today at 4:15 am (Paris), updated at 4:16 am
A May Day
which would "beat 30-year-old records," promised Sophie Binet,
secretary general of the CGT, just hours before the Paris march began. Laurent
Berger of the CFDT added,"This is not a last hurrah." And it wasn't:
there was a massive turnout on Monday in the streets of both major cities –
Paris, Nantes, Toulouse and Bordeaux – and smaller ones. The CGT reported 2.3
million demonstrators in France, including 550,000 in Paris, while the Ministry
of the Interior reported 782,000 demonstrators, including 112,000 in the
capital. This is seven to ten times more people than in 2022, and it also
exceeds the turnout in 2009, the previous "united front" May Day of
the eight main unions, when the CGT counted 1.2 million demonstrators, and the
police estimated 456,000.
In Paris,
Lyon and Nantes, the bulk of the marches were hidden at the start of the route
by a large group of "black bloc" demonstrators (dressed in black,
masked and helmeted), with police drawn up to confront them. In Paris, there
were 5,000 police and armed officers. In Nantes, stones were thrown at the
police as well as the buildings of the police headquarters and departmental
council of Loire-Atlantique. The police responded with tear gas, stun grenades
and baton rounds. The pattern was the same in each case, with umbrellas
shielding the militants. In Paris, the "black blocs" advanced through
a thick cloud of tear gas, at the cost of several broken shop windows and even
the stand of the Parti Communiste Français (PCF). National secretary Fabien
Roussel had to be smuggled out against a backdrop of hostile slogans, and the
stand was hit by an explosive device.
The arrival
of the "black blocs" at the Place de la Nation, the destination of
the march, triggered new clashes, with fireworks from the demonstrators, and
tear gas and stun grenades from the police. A little after 7 pm, the square had
become a gigantic morass, where tear gas mixed with the smell of French fries
and merguez sausages, and police charges alternated with volleys of
projectiles.(…)
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