Paris, France – Between 110,000 and 250,000 Parisians, depending on police and trade union estimates, marched peacefully in solidarity with high school students and against the cost of living and state repression last Saturday, October 24.
It was the second episode of the movement in France, a week after a similar protest mobilised approximately as many people, and a multitude of police brutality incidents and the damaging and looting of shops were reported.
Mathis, a 23-year-old photographer, was present on October 17. French President Emmanuel Macron’s address to the nation last Sunday did little to convince him not to come back this week: “It was all sweet talk to condemn what everyone condemns,” he told EU Reports, “of course we don’t want violence or looting.”
“Nothing has been said on what high schoolers, trade unions, farmers, firefighters and everyone else ask for. We need action,” he added.
Mathis had never taken part in a protest until a couple of weeks ago. “I didn’t feel the need to go in the street, but now I feel a shift,” he stressed.
“There is a convergence of struggles, and we feel a responsibility to speak up.”
Emmanuel, a man in his thirties, agreed. “Salaries are not keeping up with inflation, the price of oil is skyrocketing, and some families struggle to have a meal a day.”
Dressed as a pirate to “keep the spirits high”, he expressed his fears regarding the upcoming 2027 presidential election, as far-right candidate Marine Le Pen still tops the first-round polls with a comfortable margin.
Emmanuel even confessed to considering emigration to a “more left-leaning country” such as Ireland or Spain, as he feels his values “are not represented anymore” in France.
“I was scared of coming, that’s why I came”
Following the controversies surrounding October 17, the French government imposed curfews in several cities. Macron also recommended “no protest in the upcoming days” and stated he would bar protests organised by “illegitimate people”, not from trade unions. His declarations were widely condemned by human rights organisations.
“I’m very worried, the interdiction to protest becomes the norm whilst the authorisation becomes the exception,” said Maxime, a Green Party (EELV) activist in his twenties.
“To judge the legitimacy of people protesting is the first step towards the collapse of the rule of law,” he added. “It’s forming an illiberal jurisprudence for the day we have a far-right government.”
Helena, 23, was tear-gassed and charged by the riot police as she attempted to take the metro at Saint-Lazare station last week. She still decided to come back this week: “I think there is a willingness to scare us, and it’s because I’m scared that I’m here.”
Read more: France protests enter new week as government fails to appease students
Converging voices
A climate of festive defiance prevailed as the protest made its way from the south of Paris to its eastern Porte de Vincennes, dotted with humorous signs and rhythmed by marching bands and antifascist chants.
The protest was expected to take place on another, more central, route, before it was moved less than 24 hours prior. A move “made on purpose by the government who didn’t want it to go through,” according to Maggie, a 65-year-old member of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), the second largest trade union in France.
“I was worried people would get scared and not turn up considering what has been shown on TV, only the damages and looting… but they showed up!,” she said, pointing to the endless flow of people walking forward.
“Everyone’s here! Old and young people, high schoolers, students, workers, trade unions, charities, yellow jackets,” Maggie added.
At 78, Jean-Paul has been protesting “since the Vietnam War” and sees this movement as unprecedented. “It’s fantastic, there finally seems to be a convergence of the youth, the trade unions and left-wing parties.
“I think we can be optimistic for the future, we’re together, and we’re gonna win!,” he said
The next step
Rain began pouring down as the procession dispersed at Porte de Vincennes, where a few minor scuffles with the police occurred.
Negotiations between high school student unions and the government this Monday, October 26 were once again unsuccessful and blockades are set to resume once the fall holidays end.
“But as long as the economy functions, it will be difficult to be truly heard,” said Maggie, the CGT unionist. “The next important day is November 5,” when a general strike has been called.
“I hope it will be massively followed,” Maggie concluded.
Featured image: “Golden Youth” written on the French flag, next to “I am Pengo”, in tribute to Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old killed in a racist terrorist attack near Paris this Friday, 23 October
Courtesy of author Andrea Bidnic
