What mobilization in France on this International Workers’ Day? Thousands of people demonstrated in the streets on Wednesday, May 1, with various demands put forward by the unions for wages, peace in Gaza and even a “more protective” Europe.
In Paris, the demonstration set off shortly after 2 p.m. from Place de la République towards Place de la Nation. In a fairly broad unity, since the CFDT and Unsa were alongside the CGT, FSU and Solidaires. Before the departure of the procession, the number one of the CGT, Sophie Binet, notably highlighted “the refusal of social destruction policies” and the defense of freedoms, including union freedoms.
Tensions took place at the head of the procession at the start of the demonstration. “Radical elements” “attempted to damage a business” but were “prevented from doing so by immediate intervention by the police” according to the Paris police headquarters. At 3:45 p.m., the latter reported that calm had returned, “after several interventions”.
A police source told Agence France Presse of a “large pre-procession” of around 4,500 people, with “several hundred” of radicals. As of 2:40 p.m., 917 people had been checked according to the prefecture, reporting 25 arrests.
Our journalist Pierre Bouvier is on site:
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). Violence broke out in the city center of Nantes during the demonstration with damage to businesses and the shooting of tear gas. In Lyon, the parade brought together 13,000 demonstrators according to the unions and 6,500 according to the prefecture. Twenty-two people were arrested at the end of the procession, according to the prefecture.
There were also between 4,000 (unions) and 1,850 (prefecture) in Bordeaux or between 3,000 and 8,000 in Toulouse. In Lille, the procession brought together between 2,100 (prefecture) and 4,000 people (CGT).
Glucksmann forced to leave the parade in Saint-Etienne
As the European elections approach, several political leaders took part in the demonstrations, 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. The socialist candidate notably claimed to have seen “flags of La France insoumise and Permanent Revolution”, a Trotskyist movement, among the people who insulted him.
If he says he “totally disapproves of the expulsion of Raphaël Glucksmann”, Jean-Luc Mélenchon regrets that it “provides a media diversion against May 1 and a victim role for Glucksmann who takes advantage of it to (… ) accuse [La France insoumise]”.
On the union side, unity remains quite broad but, unlike 2023, where the eight main French unions (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, UNSA, Solidaires, FSU) marched together against pension reform, it there is no national interprofessional slogan.
“Not a disunity.”
The CGT, FSU and Solidaires, as well as youth organizations including Unef, Fage and MNL (National High School Movement), had launched a joint appeal in particular "against austerity", for employment and wages or peace again.
The first French union, the CFDT, had for its part called for people to “join the processions organized throughout France, to demand a more ambitious and more protective Europe for workers”.
“We can be united and continue to make common demands without necessarily being all, always, all the time together in the front square. So it’s not a disunity, it’s another way of raising our demands,” said CFDT number one Marylise Léon from Nancy.
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.
According to feedback from the CGT, mobilization is “a little bit higher than May 1, 2022” which is “the right cursor”, therefore “social anger is definitely present”, affirmed Sophie Binet.
