Protesters clashed with security forces across France on Monday as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on Labor Day to express their discontent over President Emmanuel Macron’s retirement age change.
Unions had expected a large turnout at the May 1 protests to further shake up the French president.
Macron passed a law last month to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, despite months of strikes against the law.
In Paris, radical protesters set fire to a building and hurled projectiles at police, even smashing windows of businesses such as banks and real estate, while security forces responded with tear gas and water cannons, AFP correspondents testified.
A police officer, hit by a Molotov cocktail, suffered severe burns to his hand and face, Paris police said, adding that 46 people had been arrested in the capital by mid-afternoon alone.
However, the government has updated the figures to 291 people arrested and 108 injured police officers across France.
Incidents from north to south
Police were given last-minute permission to use drones as a security measure after a Paris court rejected a petition from human rights groups not to use them.
Police used tear gas in Toulouse, in southern France, as tensions rose during demonstrations, as four cars were set on fire in the southeastern city of Lyon. In the western city of Nantes, police also fired tear gas after protesters threw projectiles. The windows of Uniqlo clothing stores were smashed.
“While the vast majority of protesters were peaceful, particularly in Paris, Lyon and Nantes, police are confronted with extremely violent offenders who have come with one goal: to kill police officers and attack other people’s property,” Interior Minister Gerald said. . Darmanin, on Twitter.
Building catches fire near Place de la Nation in Paris during May 1 protests; several people seem to be trapped on the roof pic.twitter.com/EOmaQbJY5G
– Factual news (@factual) May 1, 2023
It’s Mayday 2023 and the police are on fire #Paris pic.twitter.com/wY6c11eKsc
– ill will (@illwilleditions) May 1, 2023
Protesters briefly occupied the luxury Intercontinental hotel in the southern city of Marseille, destroying flower pots and damaging furniture.
Some 782,000 people protested across France, including 112,000 in Paris alone, the interior ministry said. The CGT union said it had 2.3 million protesters across France, including 550,000 in the capital.
The turnout was enormously higher than on 1 May last year.
Main united unions
Macron and his government have been trying to turn the page of months of popular discontent, hoping to relaunch his second term after the reform is approved.
“The page will not be turned until this pension reform is withdrawn. The determination to win is intact,” CGT union boss Sophie Binet told the Paris protest.
“The mobilization is still very, very strong,” added Laurent Berger, head of the CFDT union.
“It’s a sign that resentment and dissatisfaction are not abating.”
This Monday marked the first time since 2009 that all eight of France’s main trade unions met to call for protests.
Radical eco-activists from Extinction Rebellion have splashed orange paint on the facade of Paris’ glitzy Fondation Louis Vuitton museum, which is backed by luxury goods giant LVMH.
In a separate action by another environmental protest group, activists sprayed orange paint around Place Vendôme in central Paris, known for its jewelry stores, targeting the facade of the Ministry of Justice.
“Red card” for Macron
Since mid-January, France has been rocked by a dozen days of nationwide strikes and protests against Macron and his pension changes.
When Macron attended the Coupe de France final on Saturday, he was greeted with red cards by activists.
Nearly three in four French people are dissatisfied with Macron, a poll by the IFOP polling group showed last month.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, backed by Macron, in March invoked the controversial Article 49.3 of the constitution to force pension reform through parliament without a vote in the Chamber of Deputies.
On the Place de la Republique, where the May Day march began in the French capital, a huge vest with the slogan “Macron Resign” was affixed to the giant statue symbolizing the French republic.
Source: DN
