After a strong united mobilization in 2023 against pension reform, the main unions are calling to take to the streets on Wednesday May 1 with various demands. On this International Workers’ Day, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) lists more than 265 rallies and demonstrations across France, in the “high” range, according to Céline Verzeletti, confederal secretary.
Among the first processions to set off, that of Marseille brought together around 3,000 people, according to the police, behind a banner proclaiming: “Mobilized for peace and social progress”. In Rennes, the demonstration attracted 1,400 demonstrators, according to the prefecture, while in Nantes there were between 4,000 and 5,000, noted a journalist from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
As the European elections approached, several political leaders were there, such as the number one of the PCF, Fabien Roussel, who marched in Lille, where he said he wanted to “put the social question at the heart of the European elections”. In Saint-Etienne, the head of the list of the Socialist Party and Place publique, Raphaël Glucksmann, was prevented from joining the procession after paint was thrown and invectives from a few dozen activists. “I totally disapprove of the expulsion,” said the leader of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, on X.
“Rather festive and family-oriented” events expected
In Paris, the demonstration is due to start at 2 p.m. from Place de la République towards Place de la Nation. At the national level, “120,000 to 150,000” demonstrators are expected, according to a note from the territorial intelligence services. This is significantly less than in 2023, when the mobilization brought together nearly 800,000 demonstrators, according to the authorities, and 2.3 million, according to the CGT. For comparison, it was eight to ten times more than in 2022, when the police counted some 116,000 demonstrators and the CGT, 210,000.
In Paris, between 15,000 and 30,000 people are expected by the authorities, including 400 to 800 radical demonstrators. Pro-Palestinian activists could swell the ranks of the processions, particularly in Paris, and “detractors” of the Olympic Games could take advantage of this offered platform, says the intelligence note. But the authorities generally expect demonstrations “of a rather festive and family character” and “more peaceful” than last year, when the day was marked by sometimes violent clashes in the capital and other cities such as Nantes or Lyon. According to police sources, 12,000 police officers and gendarmes will be mobilized, including 5,000 in Paris.
Unity remains quite broad, since the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT) and the UNSA will be with the CGT, FSU and Solidaires. But, unlike 2023, where the eight main French unions (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, UNSA, Solidaires, FSU) marched together against pension reform, there is no word of national interprofessional order.
No national interprofessional slogan
The CGT, FSU, and Solidaires, as well as youth organizations including the UNEF, the FAGE or the MNL (National High School Movement), have launched a joint appeal in particular “against austerity”, for employment and wages or even peace. “We are going to mobilize for wages and to denounce the social destruction led by the government and the employers who particularly want to attack unemployment insurance,” said CGT number one, Sophie Binet, on RMC on Wednesday. .
The first French union, the CFDT, for its part called for people to “join the processions organized throughout France, to demand a more ambitious and more protective Europe for workers”. Its number one, Marylise Léon, will be in Nancy, where she will participate in a debate on the issues of the European elections. His FO counterpart, Frédéric Souillot, will be practically at the other end of France, in Montauban, in Occitanie.
Even if “it will be different from last year”, Céline Verzeletti expects “an important May 1st in mobilization”, against a backdrop of “attacks on freedoms”, including union freedoms, and a social situation ” very degraded.” “This was not seen by certain unions as absolutely requiring unity on this day,” observes Murielle Guilbert, co-delegate of Solidaires. But, she says, given the issues of the moment, “we had better have a nice May 1st.”
