Black Tuesday: the interprofessional strike everywhere in France

An interprofessional strike movement took place on Tuesday, October 18. Everywhere in France, demonstrations were organized. In Paris, the demonstration started from Place d’Italie, in the 13th arrondissement, at 2 p.m.

This Tuesday was marked by an important day of inter-professional strike with the main objective, a request for a general increase in wages. Demonstrations were therefore organized in several cities in France and in particular in Paris, where 70,000 people, according to figures from the CGT, responded to the call of the unions by starting their march at the level of the Place d’Italie. Relatively calm during the first hour, the demonstration then degenerated in certain places and several establishments were ransacked by thugs.

The secretary general of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) has already announced that there will be “results” from today’s strike. Questioned before the departure of the procession in Paris, Philippe Martinez “encourages all employees to be more and more demanding” [with his employer]. “This movement must take place over time because there are not enough answers today,” he further pleaded.

Many parliamentarians from La France Insoumise (LFI) are present in the midst of the protests in Paris. Other policies to parade, the first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure or Fabien Roussel. On the side of the Greens, Yannick Jadot had paraded in Strasbourg at the end of the morning.

Several incidents were noted by our journalist on the spot. The windows of a CIC banking establishment and a BMW motorcycle dealership were attacked in the Montparnasse district, for example. A police source confirmed to our envoy that nearly 200 thugs, all dressed in black, had “formed a unit with the will to fight it out”. This same source claimed that nearly 60 of them were part of the “ultra-left”. Several clashes with the police were counted, and the police headquarters reported six arrests.

Earlier in the day, the authorities had said they expected this type of overflow and had therefore deployed a large police force. The Ministry of the Interior, for its part, announced that it had counted 13,000 demonstrators in the capital, a figure much lower than that indicated by the unions.

Several assembly points were planned throughout France. The authorities assured that 2,200 people had demonstrated in Marseille, 1,100 in Strasbourg, and more than 2,000 in Lyon, Lille and Rennes.

Nearly 150 assembly points were planned in France, according to the CGT, organizer of this day with FO, Solidaires, the FSU and the youth organizations Fidl, MNL, Unef and High School Life. In Marseille, 2,200 people demonstrated according to the police, who counted 2,000 participants in Martigues.

Between 1,100 (police) and 1,300 (unions) demonstrators responded to the call in Strasbourg. Including Nadine, 45, an employee in the metallurgy, who judges “a pity to come to a blocking point for things to move, but today if we don’t block anything, we cannot be heard”.

They were also between 2,100 (police) and 7,000 (CGT) in Bordeaux. And, according to the police, 3,650 in Le Havre, 1,800 in Montpellier, 2,200 in Lyon and 2,700 in Lille, around 800 in Dunkirk, 2,600 in Rennes, where the procession chanted “It can’t last any longer, it’s going to blow up”. In Nantes, the CGT has identified 4,000 participants. Toulouse, Bastia or Ajaccio, were also mobilized.

Three trade unions representing the energy sector – CGT, FO and CFDT – have signed an agreement on wage increases in the electricity and gas industry branch (IEG), a first step before the opening of wage negotiations in companies . This agreement provides for a general increase in the national basic salary of 3.3% in two stages, with a retroactivity of 1% on July 1, 2022 and the balance of 2.3% on January 1, 2023, indicated Claude Martin, negotiator of the branch agreement for the FNME-CGT, the leading union in the branch with 39.68% representation.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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