A wall of sound spits in front of young partygoers, avenue de la Forêt-Noire. An unusual scene for this wealthy district of Strasbourg. Residents look on from their flower-filled balconies, sometimes looking amused, sometimes perplexed. Around 3,000 people mobilized to participate in the demonstration on 1er-May, International Workers’ Day.
The procession is split into two very distinct parts. Union and traditional atmosphere ahead, with the FSU, Unsa, Solidaires, AES / FSE, FO, CGT and CFDT. Behind, activists, often younger, respond to the call of the Retour de Flamme collective, created for the occasion. The group has declared an alternative route, which runs along the quays. “We wanted to be visible and go to the city center to reach more people, so we’re going to branch out”explains Léo simply:
“There is a desire for self-management, not to follow decisions taken by an inter-union if we do not agree. It is important for us to organize our struggles. »
For its part, the inter-union is heading towards the border park of Jardin des Deux-Rives, in order to meet German counterparts. “Workers’ rights are universal. We must build international links, particularly before the European elections and in this context of the rise of the far right”proclaims Mohamed Sylla, secretary general of Unsa 67.
Chloé, a member of the same union, blue vest on her back, assures that this separation of the processions is not a problem: “It is their will, it is not serious in itself that two processions are formed after a while. »
Half chooses the festive procession
An interpretation confirmed by Lucille, from the Retour de Flamme collective. “We are not against the unions which are very important in companies for example, it is not a head-on opposition. But I don’t always agree with their strategy, and I think it’s important that we don’t have to be sidelined to be listened to.”she estimates, a Phrygian cap on her head.
Rue de l’Observatoire, ecologists, associations, students, yellow vests, pro-Palestinian activists, or around half of the nearly 3,000 demonstrators let themselves be carried away by the sounds and colors of the Return of the Flame procession.
Six carnival floats denouncing the Olympic Games were made in the preceding days. One of them includes an effigy of Gérald Darmanin, bearing the words “no migrants, no poor”, in reference to the forced removals of asylum seekers and students to make room for future Olympic spectators.
Emmanuel Macron is also represented, surrounded by police officers in a Batorama barge on a Seine full of waste. “No pensions, no Olympics!” », Launch activists. According to Léo, opposition to the Olympic Games could become a major reason for mobilization in the coming months, hence the need to have demands on this topical subject.
Clarisse, an employee of an association, followed this parade like most people who are not members of a union. She thinks that these bring together another audience:
” We complete each other. I tend to believe that you have to have a nice side to attract people, and stop asking for a kind of militant purity that makes us elitist, so I really like this festive side. »
Walking through the crowd, it’s hard not to find an atmosphere to your liking. Sam and Sacha tap their feet to the rhythm of the bass. In their twenties, party girl look, they claim not to take themselves too seriously and to be welcoming: “With music, we attract people who are not politicized, we open up to more people. »
When workers are also partygoers
Dan emphasizes that mobile rave matters “various profiles including workers”who find here “a way of demonstrating that they like”. He would like to point out that this day of mobilization is also an opportunity to come together against the repression of free parties, as the demonstration had been canceled a few weeks earlier due to restrictions imposed by the prefecture.
Further on, in another register, a brass band makes several dozen people dance to the sound of the now famous song Down with the police state. Choirs sing their songs together, encouraged by the applause of the other participants. Returning to the quays via Victory Boulevard, the demonstrators chant “Siamo tutti antifascisti”, we are all antifascists in Italian.
Tom, also an Alternatiba activist, analyzes the importance of creating coordination outside of unions. “During the mobilization against the pension reform, we knew from the start that demonstrating would not be enough and that more blockades would have to be organized. So we must know how to act independently and claim a certain self-determination”he explains.
Multiple smoke bombs and fireworks are lit under an increasingly hot sun as midday approaches. Nurcan, member of a Kurdish and Turkish association, is delighted “to demonstrate with youth, in good energy” : “They are really against capitalism and fascism, and we also want to emphasize that. »
Arriving at Place Henri-Dunant near Petite France, the demonstrators disperse quickly, no doubt partly attracted by the meal prepared at Molodoi, where an afternoon of entertainment and concerts awaits them. “It is in these kinds of moments, outside of social movements, that we must meet, to better coordinate afterwards”Tom rejoices.
