Unions leave Matignon without concessions

Sophie Binet, the CGT leader, said after a 2h30 meeting with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Wednesday, 21 October, that he had announced 'no measures' in response to the protests. CFDT general secretary Marylise Léon, also at the talks, said the government needed to give social answers to workers' long-standing expectations. The unions also complained that high school and student organisations, which have been mobilised for weeks to demand resources and a revision of Parcoursup, were not invited to Matignon. Those groups are due to be received by the education minister on Monday, 26 October.

“There has been no consideration of our demands.”

Weekend violence and the government response

The CGT had backed the protest day of 17 October, which turned into riots and looting in several cities. Binet said the union would be back on the streets on Saturday, 24 October, to accompany and protect people taking part in the 'acte II' cost-of-living protest called by a yellow vest coordination. Emmanuel Macron, speaking from Qatar, announced no measures on purchasing power, wages, tax justice, public services, or school and university resources. Instead he called for 'firmness' toward those responsible for the violence and convened a meeting with intelligence services on Thursday, 22 October, on the failures of 17 October. The Défenseur des droits said on Tuesday that it had received 46 referrals since the start of the high school movement, and more than ten of them concern incidents from the weekend. Macron also lashed out at 'foreign leaders' who, in his words, are campaigning on France's back, calling their remarks 'unacceptable as well as stupid' in an allusion to comments by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu about the weekend violence. He denounced 'foreign manipulation of information'.

Curfew in Paris

A Paris police prefecture order set a new curfew overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in several sectors of the capital, including place de la République. It marks the third consecutive night that the measure has been adopted. The same order bans any undeclared gathering during the evening and night near the Élysée, the National Assembly, the Senate, the Champs-Élysées avenue and railway stations. The restrictions follow the violence and looting of the weekend that accompanied the social mobilisation.

Strike set for 5 November

The intersyndicale has made 5 November its central date, a day of interprofessional action in which most unions are calling on private and public sector workers to strike. Binet said the strike must take over from that date, which she described as a new step in the mobilisation.

“The time has come to take a new step in the mobilisation, the strike must take over.”

For 24 October, the CGT asks members to wear red vests so that young people can assert their rights, and it asks members to help keep order at demonstrations. Binet called for general assemblies in every workplace to widen the 5 November strike and the days after it. The labour minister said he would meet the unions soon on purchasing power, but Binet said no specific announcement had been made.