France shows its anger on May Day before the Paris Olympics

The protesters combine the wage demand with support for Palestine and criticism of the Olympic Games in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

Demands for wage increases, chants for Gaza and some calls to extinguish the Olympic flame echoed through the streets of Paris on Wednesday, as traditional Labor Day marches for labor rights merged with pro-Palestinian protests and anti-Olympic sentiment.

May 1 is Labor Day for much of the world and an annual display of protest and activism. In France, it may be a good time to take the pulse of the nation.

Turnout at Wednesday’s protests suggested that French anger has subsided since the spring of last year, when the government imposed a highly unpopular law that raised the retirement age. But workers and students are still angry enough that officials worry regarding disruptions to the Paris Olympics this summer.

Isabelle Garivier, 57, who was marching as a member of the main General Confederation of Labor (CGT), said people were in the streets this year to protest once morest the “attack from all fronts on workers’ rights” as well as “this government’s shameful support for Israel.”

“The anger is still here,” he said. “She’s here every day at work, and they’re trying to silence her, but we won’t stop.”

Paris Olympic organizers are watching to see whether the rampage by different groups – garbage collectors, transport workers, student protesters – might gain momentum into July and August and “spoil the party,” as one French official put it. .

A small group of protesters in Paris drew attention Wednesday by burning the Olympic rings while standing on a statue of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic.

Lisa, who did not want to give her last name for fear of police retaliation, said her anti-Olympic group believed the Games put political and business interests above local ones.

Isolated incidents mark the protests in Paris, increasing tension ahead of the Olympic Games. (REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier)

“At no time were people’s opinions considered, even among residents of neighborhoods that were transformed…spaces that were reclaimed, privatized and concretized,” he said.

Among the group’s concerns, he said, was that migrants and others were being evicted from areas of the city as part of Olympic preparations and an effort to accelerate the “gentrification of neighborhoods.”

Crowds on Wednesday in Paris and other French cities – including Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux – were much smaller than last year, when outrage over raising the retirement age united unions and brought 782,000 people to marches. May 1, including 112,000 in the capital, according to official estimates.

This time, the main CGT union reported 200,000 protesters across France and 50,000 in the capital, while the Interior Ministry estimated a total of 121,000 and 18,000 in Paris.

The march from Paris was largely calm, but there were some clashes. Police said seven members of law enforcement were hospitalized following being hit with a homemade explosive device late in the followingnoon, according to French media.

Elsewhere in the city, protesters threw projectiles at police and set some vehicles on fire. Officers dispersed tear gas and detained at least 45 people.

Such scenes are typical of demonstrations in France. But it will be uncomfortable for French officials and Olympic organizers if the strikes stop trains or leave piles of garbage in the streets while the world watches.

To avoid industrial action, French ministers recently promised bonuses and other incentives to eligible government staff working during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Public Services Minister Stanislas Guerini said during the March announcement that “it should be a moment of success for the nation.”

A variety of complaints might converge to derail that success.

A branch of the CGT called on police officers to join the May 1 march to demand better salaries and working conditions. Another French police union had threatened to disrupt the upcoming Olympic torch relay, saying promised bonuses had been delayed, as authorities rushed to close deals with unions.

Olympic authorities and organizers seek to calm the waters by offering incentives once morest possible strikes. (Freepik)

A disgruntled police force does not bode well for France’s plan to deploy tens of thousands of officers, soldiers and guards to protect an Olympic Games that faces a potential shortage of private security officers and unique challenges, including ambitions to hold the Olympic Ceremonies. Opening on July 26 along the Seine River.

French authorities have also negotiated with rail workers and air traffic controllers, hoping to avoid strikes that might disrupt Metro trains or flights as elite athletes, world leaders and millions of tourists flock to Paris. Transport workers and garbage collectors are among the unions that have filed strike notices for the Games period, when the city is counting on their work, although it is not yet clear whether they will actually walk off the job.

Even some workers at the French institution that makes the Olympic medals have gone on strike in recent weeks, demanding better recognition and higher wages.

They are not just labor strikes. As protests engulf college campuses in the United States, outrage over Israel’s war in Gaza has sparked protests in Paris for days, including at the prestigious Sciences Po and Sorbonne universities.

On Wednesday, protesters waved Palestinian flags and held up signs calling for a boycott of Israel at the Olympics.

Marie Rieth said she joined the march in Paris because “what has happened in Gaza for seven months is abhorrent, and we find it disturbing what is happening to silence voices of support for Palestine.”

“And we personally know Gazans who might have been killed under the bombs… Those we know have come out,” he added. “They have lost everything.”

The head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, Tony Estanguet, has said he expects sport, not politics, to dominate the Games this summer, even as he acknowledged that “the international context is particularly tense today.”

He has also called for a domestic truce for the Olympics and said officials were working to address social issues. “I would like us to welcome the whole world in the best conditions and not ruin the party,” she said.

(c) 2024 , The Washington Post