Over three hundred rallies are held across France on May 1, when the country celebrates Labor Day, including protests organized by trade unions against the unpopular pension reform.
This is reported by Le Figaro.
French unions are calling for continued protests against pension reform after twelve similar actions across France. Among more than 300 actions, one, the largest, is planned in Paris.
Law enforcement officers expect that 500,000 to 650,000 people will come to the protests, including 80,000 to 100,000 in the capital.
To ensure law and order, 12,000 policemen and gendarmes will be deployed on the streets, including 5,000 in Paris. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin also announced that four mobile teams would be deployed in Rennes and Nantes.
As of 2:00 p.m. Paris time (3:00 p.m. Kyiv time), Le Figaro estimates that 418,000 demonstrators have already taken to the streets. This is more than on April 13, when 200,000 French people took to the streets, but less than on March 7 (1.28 million).
Union leaders have previously said they expect an "unprecedented and exceptional" mobilization of protesters against the pension reform on May 1, which will also be "family", "people" and "celebratory".
As Le Figaro reminds, despite the mass, in recent years the May Day demonstrations in Paris are less numerous than now. Last year, 116,500 people took to the streets of France, including 24,000 in Paris. At the same time in 2009, against the background of the financial crisis, on May 1, according to the trade unions, almost 1.2 million demonstrators came out, according to the police - 456 thousand.
We will remind, against the background of dissatisfaction with the pension reform, the support of French President Emmanuel Macron was requested for at least 5 years; according to some polls, two-thirds of the French consider his re-election a mistake.
