France’s fourth weekend of cost-of-living protests drew smaller crowds Saturday and ended with clashes in Paris ahead of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s talks with unions and employer groups on wages and purchasing power.
The French Interior Ministry counted 146,000 demonstrators nationwide, including 46,000 in Paris. Unions estimated 250,000 across France and 75,000 in the capital. Saturday’s competing totals were below estimates reported for the previous three weekends. At a union rally on Nov. 5, authorities counted 575,000 people, while unions estimated 1.6 million. The turnout dispute follows France’s Oct. 24 protests, which also drew sharply different estimates.
AFP reported that police used tear gas at the end of the Paris march after people threw projectiles and homemade fireworks toward security forces. Police said officers came under attack from 200 people they described as violent during the arrest of a man who had set a trash bin on fire. In Lyon, police used tear gas to disperse several hundred people blocking a road at an unauthorized gathering, AFP reported.
Student protests over school conditions helped start the movement in late September, with university groups joining later. Student Union spokeswoman Sabine Kharbach said young people remain engaged because they consider the government’s response insufficient.
The demonstrations have also disrupted local businesses. Paris shop manager Jean Emile Moulinier told AFP that security barriers discouraged customers from reaching his store on protest weekends. AFP reported that shops in Paris and other cities covered their windows, and some closed for the day.
AFP said France’s debt has limited the government’s room to respond and unsettled markets. The report placed the protests about five months before the next presidential election. It also recalled earlier unrest: AFP described the Oct. 17 riots as the worst in France in years and said the Yellow Vests movement had shaken Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.
Lecornu is due to meet union and employer federation representatives Monday to discuss wages and purchasing power. Student and teacher groups have called a strike for Tuesday, Nov. 10, seeking more education spending.
