Laurent Bergé, head of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), said the demonstrations on May 1 this year will be “the largest in 30-40 years.”
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“This May 1 will be the most significant social issue in the last 30-40 years,” he said on the air of the LCI TV channel.
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According to the CFDT, May Day demonstrations across France could be from one to one and a half million people.
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According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 500,000 to 650,000 people are expected to take part in the actions dedicated to Labor Day on May 1 throughout the country. In total, about 300 demonstrations were announced in the metropolis. As noted by the French media, traditionally about 100-160 thousand people go to the rallies on May 1.
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80,000 to 100,000 participants are expected to attend the rally in Paris, including 1,500 to 3,000 supporters of the “yellow vests” movement, as well as 1,000 to 2,000 radical elements. According to the Minister of Internal Affairs of the country, Gerald Darmanin, 12,000 policemen and gendarmes will be involved in the actions on May 1, 5,000 in Paris, which, according to him, is a “historical number.”
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On April 14, France’s Constitutional Council approved a key article of a pension reform bill that calls for a gradual increase in the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. On the same day, French President Emmanuel Macron signed the law, the document was published in the official journal.
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Since the introduction of the pension reform in January, 12 nationwide demonstrations have already taken place in France. Most of them gathered more than a million participants. The record was set on March 7, when 1.28 million participants took part in the protests, according to the Interior Ministry. At the same time, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) counted 3.5 million members.
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The demonstrations were accompanied by clashes between demonstrators and the police, pogroms and riots. However, the number of participants in recent protests has dropped markedly. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country, 380 thousand people took part in the action on April 13 throughout France. The CGT union counted 1.5 million members.
