French unions and student groups are set to take to the streets for another day of protests on Saturday, while the Yellow Vests movement plans a separate rally in central Paris despite a ban by authorities.
The demonstrations follow weeks of youth-led unrest and nationwide strikes that have drawn hundreds of thousands of workers onto the streets. They come less than six months before voters elect a successor to President Emmanuel Macron, with the far right leading in opinion polls.
Student groups and trade unions have organised an authorised march in central Paris “against the high cost of living and in support of young people”.
Yellow Vests activists have refused to join, instead calling for a rally at Place de la Concorde, near the lower house of parliament and the presidential palace, where authorities have banned demonstrations.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 70,000 police officers and other security personnel would be deployed across the country.
“If there are any rioters or looters... we’ll be ready and waiting for them,” he said.
The protests have been largely peaceful, although some have been marred by clashes and vandalism, including on October 17, when France saw its worst rioting in years.
Hundreds of thousands of striking workers marched across the country on Thursday in mostly orderly demonstrations, though clashes broke out in several cities.
‘Mass disobedience’
The Yellow Vests movement, which emerged eight years ago in opposition to planned fuel-tax increases, has urged supporters to attend its banned rally.
“We are calling for mass disobedience,” said Benjamin Ball, a member of its coordinating committee.
Authorities are seeking to prevent a repeat of the rioting and looting seen on October 17. The Interior Ministry said Thursday’s protests had “generally gone well”, despite 642 arrests.
Police have faced criticism over their handling of the demonstrations, with dozens of internal investigations opened into allegations of brutality.
AFP urged authorities on Friday to protect its journalists following several instances of apparent police brutality against its reporters covering the protests.
Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders said it had recorded 40 cases of security forces obstructing journalists covering the demonstrations, including 21 involving physical violence.
Pressure over wages
Macron’s government is struggling to respond to the protests as his presidency approaches its end in May 2027.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is due to meet trade unions and employers’ organisations on Monday to discuss wages and purchasing power.
“The only thing that will bring the protests to an end is a response to the demands that have been put forward for several weeks by workers, civil servants, young people, and pensioners,” an inter-union coalition said on Friday.
The unions are calling for an increase in the minimum wage, which has not received any discretionary boost since 2012, across-the-board wage raises, tax reforms and better learning conditions for young people.
France, the European Union’s second-largest economy, is under pressure to rein in debt, limiting the government’s room to meet protesters’ demands.
