France’s cost-of-living protests reached a fourth consecutive Saturday as provisional data showed inflation at 3.4% in October, while the government scheduled wage and purchasing-power talks with employers and workers for Monday.
The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) put October’s provisional consumer-price increase at 3.4% from a year earlier, up from 3.1% in September. Energy prices rose 24.1% year over year, according to the Oct. 30 release.
Figures released by the French Interior Ministry put the Nov. 7 turnout at 146,000 nationwide across 141 actions, including 46,000 in Paris. Le Monde reported that a youth union coalition estimated 250,000 demonstrators across France and 75,000 in Paris.
The ministry’s reported crowd totals fell at each Saturday demonstration: 550,000 on Oct. 17, 410,000 on Oct. 24, 320,000 on Oct. 31 and 146,000 on Nov. 7. Its tally of actions also declined, from 430 on Oct. 17 to 289 on Oct. 24, 227 on Oct. 31 and 141 on Nov. 7.
The Interior Ministry cited incidents in Toulouse, Grenoble, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Dijon. It said the Paris march was calm until incidents occurred during dispersal at Place de la Nation.
Reuters reported that student complaints about teacher shortages and school conditions in Paris suburbs helped spur the movement. Its reporting said the demonstrations later broadened to concerns about living costs and public services.
After the Oct. 17 protests, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told France Inter that police had lost control in some cities. EconoTimes previously covered Nuñez’s comments on the police response.
Lecornu’s office said he would meet worker and employer representatives at Matignon on Monday, Nov. 9, for a social conference on wages and purchasing power.
