Thousands joined May Day demonstrations around France on Friday to protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s social policies and his handling of the financial crisis.
Unions organised nearly 300 marches to demonstrate against soaring unemployment, weak purchasing power, scandals over executive pay and plant closures that have also led to a wave of “bossnappings”.
Turnout in the May Day rallies held in many European countries was expected to rise this year because of soaring jobless numbers. Protests fuelled by rising unemployment turned violent in Turkey, Germany and Greece.
However, French unions said the turnout at regional protests was lower than on March 19 when up to 3 million attended the largest demonstrations since Sarkozy’s election in 2007.
In the south western city of Toulouse, police said 15,000 people took part, while organisers pegged the total at 40,000. In Strasbourg, in eastern France, police said 4,000 showed up while the CGT union said the number was closer to 6,500. Thousands more gathered in central Paris.
Nearly 200 workers joined the protest in Toulouse from a Molex Inc factory threatened with closure. Angry workers recently detained two managers at the U.S.-owned plant, one of a series of recent “bossnapping” cases.
“We are here to defend our jobs that the American bankers want to get rid of claiming they are not profitable,” said Pierre Bellegarde, a CGT union representative from Molex.
{{/usCountry}}“We are here to defend our jobs that the American bankers want to get rid of claiming they are not profitable,” said Pierre Bellegarde, a CGT union representative from Molex.
{{/usCountry}}“We have been fighting for months and will continue to fight against the planned closure which is an economic heresy.”
Executive frustration
In a sign of how far disillusionment has spread among French workers, staff in management positions were among those
demonstrating.
“It is absolutely not in our tradition to protest on May 1 but given the economic context in France and crisis we decided to join in,” said Carole Couvert, a leader of the CFE-CGC union for executives.
The opposition Socialist party called on its members to join the protests for the first time since 2002 and unions put aside their divisions over how to respond to Sarkozy to try and present a united front.
Unions want more help for seniors and youths struggling to find jobs, and complain the government’s 26 billion euro ($35 billion) investment-led stimulus has put money in bosses’ pockets but done nothing to help consumers. The latest figures show more than 440,000 jobs have disappeared, many for young people, in mainland France over the past year as the economic gloom has spread.
Sarkozy has pledged tax cuts for the lower paid and extra support for youth training as part of a raft of measures to help struggling households.
But he has resisted calls for more steps to help consumers as the left has demanded, pointing out household spending has held up well throughout the crisis.