Aloys Gautier
According to Beauvau, 281,000 people demonstrated this Tuesday, June 6, against 900,000 for the CGT. If the figures of the mobilization against the pension reform diverge, everyone agrees on the fact that this is the lowest participation recorded since the beginning of the movement.
The essential
- This Tuesday, June 6, 2023 was the 14th day of mobilization against the pension reform organized at the initiative of the inter-union.
- More than 250 demonstrations were organized all over France. According to the figures, the mobilization is down. The CGT has indeed counted 900,000 demonstrators in France, including 300,000 in Paris. On the Interior side, the figure of 281,000 demonstrators was announced, while the Paris police headquarters reported 31,000 people mobilized in the capital.
- Elsewhere in France, turnout also seems lower than expected given police figures: 4,000 in Marseille and 8,000 in Toulouse (50,000 according to the unions), 5,550 in Rennes (against 10,000) or even 8,000 in Lyon (against 27,000).
- The demonstration of June 6 “is the last on the question of pensions in this format”, for his part confirmed Laurent Berger, secretary general of the CFDT at the start of the Parisian procession. The unions, however, refuse to drop the challenge against the bill.
- Follow the demonstrations of June 6 live.
Live
7:47 pm – In Paris, the CRS disperse the last demonstrators
END OF LIVE – Place d’Italie in Paris, arrival point of the procession, the CRS are currently dispersing the last demonstrators. While the workforce had started in a rather peaceful way, the CRS still ended up firing tear gas to push back the last recalcitrants. However, this remains a rather classic end-of-event strategy. Officially, it was to end at 7 p.m., so the CRS were ordered to get everyone out of the square.
19:23 – 28 arrests in Paris
The Paris police headquarters has revised its balance sheet upwards, announcing at 6:30 p.m., no longer 17, but now 28 arrests made this Tuesday, June 6 on the sidelines of the procession against the pension reform in the capital.
19:02 – 281,000 demonstrators in France on June 6, estimates Beauvau
The Ministry of the Interior announced on Tuesday evening that, according to it, some 281,000 people demonstrated across France on the occasion of the 14th mobilization against the pension reform. Before that, the CGT had mentioned the figure of 900,000 demonstrators.
6:53 p.m. – Five arrests in Rennes
It is not only in Paris that the tension has risen a notch this Tuesday, June 6. In Rennes, five people were also arrested on the sidelines of the procession against the pension reform, said the prefecture, detailing that three had been arrested for “identity verification” and two for “holding a shield”. In her last point, she also said that a BAC policeman had been injured, citing a knee problem.
6:41 p.m. – Declining mobilization this Tuesday, June 6
If the Ministry of the Interior has not yet communicated on the global mobilization this Tuesday, June 6 against the pension reform, based solely on the figures of the CGT, we can already see a reduction in the ranks of protesters. Thus, while the CGT announced 900,000 demonstrators throughout France on Tuesday, it mentioned the figure of 2.3 million people in the streets on May 1. Also according to the unions, there were one million pounding the pavement on April 13, 3.5 million on March 7 and 23, 2.5 million on February 11, 2.8 million on January 31 and 2 million on January 19.
6:20 p.m. – 31,000 demonstrators according to the prefecture, 300,000 according to the CGT in Paris
While the CGT had claimed a little earlier, at the stroke of 6 p.m., 300,000 demonstrators in the capital, on the occasion of this 14th day of mobilization against the pension reform initiated by the inter-union, the police headquarters came up with a completely different number. According to her, 31,000 people beat the pavement in Paris this Tuesday, June 6.
18:07 – 17 arrests in Paris on the sidelines of the demonstrations
According to information from the police headquarters, which BFM echoes, at 5:30 p.m., 17 people had been arrested in Paris. In the capital, the mobilization is coming to an end, but Black Blocs have invited themselves. A few incidents were noted. A traffic light, pallets and a trash can were set on fire, prompting the intervention of the police and firefighters.
16:35 – A dense crowd in Paris
The June 6 demonstration brings people together on the boulevards. The crowd advances in step and the procession progresses calmly despite the degradations perpetrated at the front of the demonstration by individuals assimilated to thugs. As the crowd passes in front of the La Rotonde bar, often targeted during demonstrations, a group of law enforcement officers is positioned in front of the bistro to anticipate possible acts of vandalism.
16:06 – Between 12,000 and 20,000 demonstrators and police injured in Nantes
At the beginning of the afternoon, the unions announced the presence of 20,000 people in the procession in Nantes, the police would rely more on 12,000 demonstrators according to The Parisian. In the city, several clashes took place on the sidelines of the parade and four police officers from the departmental intervention company (CDI) were injured in the testicles, knee and suffered from bruises “adds the media. Among the injured would also be three gendarmes injured, including one hospitalized with a broken shoulder, and three CRS injured in the thumb, cervical and elbow.
15:47 – 14 arrests in Paris before the start of the demonstration
The demonstration had not yet started as the police had already made 14 arrests by 2.30 p.m., reported BFM TV, including some for carrying a prohibited weapon. Among those arrested, one is a 22-year-old man released yesterday by the Amiens court in the case of the attack on Brigitte Macron’s grand-nephew. The young man was arrested at the Invalides and wore a helmet and shelled gloves according to a police source quoted by The Parisian.
15:08 – End of eventful demonstration in Lyon
If part of the procession dispersed quickly and calmly at the end of the demonstration in Lyon, another was still plagued by tensions between demonstrators and the police. The clashes moved to Place Bellecour with the use of tear gas in particular.
2:43 p.m. – The procession set off for Paris
It is now the turn of the demonstration in Paris to take the start. The procession set off shortly after 2:30 p.m. after tensions erupted at the Invalides during attempted arrests.
2:14 pm – Violence in the procession in Lyon, the black blocks mixed with the demonstrators
In Lyon, a pre-procession of 200 people quickly formed after the start of the demonstrations. Tensions erupted mid-term with disruptive elements and law enforcement with throwing projectiles and tear gas. After an increase in violence, the situation calmed down a little with the dispersal of the black blocks, the latter sneaking into the procession which ended up catching up with the disruptive group, according to the Grandstand of Lyon. The demonstrators begin to reach Place Bellecour, the place of arrival of the demonstration.
2:05 p.m. – Tensions in the procession in Rennes
In Rennes, the demonstration was disrupted by tensions which erupted between groups of demonstrators, in particular radical elements, and the police. The latter, whose advance was prevented by barricades and garbage cans, used water cannons. Tensions are still ongoing.
2:00 p.m. – The mobilization of June 6 weaker than that of May 1
The figures from the unions and the ministry should confirm this, but according to the trend observed in the first processions, the mobilization of the June 6 demonstrations is lower than that recorded during the May 1 mobilization. An observation also made by Laurent Berger, boss of the CFDT on the set of BFM TV.
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About 250 demonstrations are planned throughout France during the day of mobilizations on June 6. All procession departures and routes have been listed on a map by the CGT union.
Here are the main parades planned:
- Lille : departure of the procession at 2:30 p.m. from Porte de Paris
- Lyons : departure from procession at 11 a.m. from the tobacco factory
- Marseilles : departure of the procession at 10.30 am from the Old Port
- Bordeaux : departure of the procession at 12 p.m. place de la Bourse
- Montpellier : departure of the procession at 10:30 a.m. from the Corum
- Nantes : departure of the procession at 10.30 a.m. at the Miroir d’eau
- reindeer : departure of the procession at 11 a.m. place de Bretagne
- Strasbourg : departure of the procession at 2 p.m. avenue de la Liberté
- Toulouse : departure of the procession at 10 a.m. from Saint-Cyprien
The Parisian procession will leave Invalides (7th) at 2 p.m. for Place d’Italie (13th). According to Franceinfo, the Paris police headquarters expects a drop in mobilization, because it had counted 112,000 demonstrators on May 1, against 550,000 participants for the CGT. The timing of this day is symbolic: on June 8, the bill aimed at repealing the text of the pension reform will be presented to the National Assembly. A press point of representatives of trade union and youth organizations will be held in front of the lower house of Parliament according to TF1.
The police are expecting moments of significant tension when the demonstrators march in front of the National Assembly, but also the restaurant La Rotonde, whose storefront was burned down last April. The procession will join the Place d’Italie by the rue Grenelle and the boulevards of Montparnasse and that of the Gobelins. Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, specified that: “11,000 police officers and gendarmes will be deployed on the territory, including 4,000 in Paris.”
The inter-union had concerted on May 2 to set this date of mobilization. “We will not turn the page: together, united and determined to win the withdrawal of the reform and for social progress, let’s build strikes and demonstrations everywhere on June 6!”, This is what the latest announces inter-union press release for this day of June 6th.
Disruptions in transport
Sectors such as education and aviation will be mainly affected. Orly airport has indicated that a third of its flights are canceled. The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has encouraged airlines to reduce their number of flights to limit disruption. The drop is 20% in Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes.
On the side of the SNCF, rail traffic will be largely provided with “9 out of 10 trains in circulation on a national average”. Their statement emphasizes that the travelers concerned will be contacted by SMS or email, a usual device during strike days. The RATP forecast is even more optimistic since AFP indicates that traffic will be “normal” in Île-de-France.
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