After the “great success” of the mobilization on October 24 according to its organizers, and a relatively calm day of protest, the unions announced that they would continue their movement.
In total, the CGT counted 800,000 demonstrators across the country, as many as a week earlier, including 250,000 in Paris. The Interior Ministry, for its part, counted 410,000 demonstrators on Saturday, compared with 550,000 the previous week.
Thus, the coordination of the Yellow Vests called for an “Act III” for Saturday October 31. Before that day, it planned “pan-banging rallies” on Friday October 30, at 6 p.m. in front of the National Assembly and at 7 p.m. across France.
“The president Emmanuel Macron and his government have decided to take another step in the drift toward authoritarianism. They ban our demonstrations, impose curfews and close city centers to protesters (…) We will make our casseroles heard under the windows of parliamentarians.” A minute of silence was also announced “for all the victims of the police and the far-right”.
A Firefighters’ Mobilization
In a statement, the inter-union also filed strike notices for Thursday November 5 “for wages, public services, employment and industry.” “The anger is immense. The country’s situation is fragile. There is an urgent need to respond to social and environmental emergencies,” they wrote.
“The time has come to move to a new stage in the mobilization, the strike must take over,” announced Sophie Binet, the general secretary of the CGT.
Another date on the calendar is Thursday November 19. Several unions are calling retirees to demonstrate at 11 a.m. in Paris to demand “the minimum indexing of all pensions to inflation as of January 1, 2027.”
But also December 4, the date on which the firefighters, on strike since the beginning of September, are calling for a mobilization with “placing helmets in front of the prefectures.”
