The demonstrations of the May 1st are in full swing. In Paris, the procession will start from the Place d’Italie, in the 13th arrondissement, to reach the Place de la Nation, passing through the Boulevard de l’Hôpital, the Pont d’Austerlitz and Boulevard Diderot. The main union leaders are present. In Bordeaux, the procession started 10 a.m. from Place de la République. The Marseille meeting started at 10:30 am from the Old Port, while the Lyonnais demonstrators left the Garibaldi (7th arrondissement) metro at the same time, as in Lille (Porte des Post) or Nantes (water mirror). Follow our direct.
The left in Dunkirk. The ARCELORMITTAL CGT called for a big mobilization on the occasion of the May 1, in order to demonstrate against the steelmaker’s plan, which provides for the abolition of around 600 jobs in France. Half of these cuts concerns Dunkirk (North), where the factory is one of the economic lungs of the territory. This announcement, which is part of a gloomy context in France with the multiplication of social plans, shocked the left. Several political leaders went there, Thursday morning, including Marine Tondelier (Ecologists), Fabien Roussel (PCF), Olivier Faure (PS) and Boris Vallaud (PS), or François Ruffin.
Between 100,000 and 150,000 demonstrators expected throughout the country. Between 100,000 to 150,000 people are expected in France during demonstrations in the May 1, a police source said to Franceinfo, Wednesday, April 30. In total, 250 rallies were identified throughout France, according to our information. In Paris, the authorities estimate the crowds between 15,000 and 20,000 people. “As with each scale, we fear overflows but which are not the fact of the organizers” more than “Disorder faults”said the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nuñez, Thursday morning on BFMTV.
From union parades to various claims. The CGT, Solidaires and the FSU call to demonstrate “For peace, our pensions and our wages”. In addition to social demands, the themes carried out this year include support for Palestine or the fight against Islamophobia, following the assassination of Aboubakar Cissé in a Mosque in Gard on Friday. The objective of the three unions is also to mobilize “Against the trumping of the world and the reactionary international that develops everywhere”underlines with AFP Thomas Vacheron, CGT manager.
