Pensions: tensions and barricades in the south of Paris on the sidelines of a demonstration, 81 arrests

81 people were arrested in Paris. Clashes erupted after a call for demonstrations against the pension reform. 4,000 people demonstrated according to the police.

The police custody of a woman arrested on Wednesday during the demonstration against the pension reform in Paris, who had attacked a firefighter during a rally in 2022, was lifted without prosecution, the prosecution said on Saturday.

This 30-year-old was arrested by the police on Wednesday at the end of the demonstration, Place d’Italie. Targeted by a ban on appearing in Paris, she had been placed in police custody. His police custody was lifted and the procedure dismissed for insufficiently characterized offense, said the prosecution.

She had also been spotted in videos shared on social media during the March 7 protest.

The police had to charge several times against demonstrators who had left Place d’Italie at the call of the Union Régionale Île-de-France CGT.

Around 8:00 p.m., the police intervened, in particular the Motorized Violent Action Repression Brigades (BRAV-M), and used tear gas, according to AFP-TV on the spot.

Law enforcement intervened.for troublemakers who try to create barricades and set trash cans on fire“Commented a police source. “Given the presence of many thugs, the organizer calls for the dispersal“, assured the same source.

Demonstrators, after having descended the avenue de Choisy, branched off towards the Boulevard Masséna and set fire to garbage cans in front of the La Galerie shopping center.

“We stand alongside public waste service agents like those of private companies to have this reform withdrawn”: while uncollected waste is accumulating in many cities, the vice-presidents in charge of public waste policy of six metropolises publisha Tribunein the Sunday newspaper in support of the garbage collectors on strike.

«We, elected officials in charge of the public waste service of metropolitan areas, reaffirm our support for the strikers“Write the elected officials of Strasbourg, Montpellier, Grenoble, Nantes, Rennes and Bordeaux. Emphasizing the arduous nature of this work, they believe that “the government chooses to ignore these realities and in fact proposes in its pension reform project to extend the careers of cross-border workers by two years. We affirm it, […] to ask for this effort is to condemn front-line agents to leave their health at best, and their life at worst, at work. Retiring at 64 when you’re a garbage collector is simply not possible“, they are indignant.

Read alsoStrike of garbage collectors in Nantes: while the movement continues, the City sticks to its positions

The demonstration of opponents of the pension reform set off from the Place d’Italie (13th) in Paris in the direction of the Butte aux Cailles. Place de la Concorde, where clashes have taken place in the past two days, the police check many people.

Demonstrations took place in many municipalities in France this Saturday, bringing together several thousand participants. Among the gatherings in the regions at the initiative of local unions of trade unions or other organizations: Caen (2,000 people according to the prefecture, 5,000 according to the unions), Saint-Etienne (1,200 police, 3,000 CGT), Roanne (1,600 police , 3,000 CGT), Nantes (6,000 police, 15,000 CGT), Brest (6,000 according to the police), a few hundred in Besançon and Marseille, Dijon (500), Grenoble (300), Gap (400), Annecy (from 700 to one thousand), Valence (1700) and a few dozen municipal police officers in Toulouse.

As in Brest, the demonstration this Saturday in Nantes was the scene of tensions with the police. Individuals lit trash can fires, and barricades were installed, prompting interventions by the men in blue as well as the use of tear gas.

In Bordeaux, the police also used tear gas, according to journalists. Gathered on Place de la Victoire, a few hundred demonstrators wanted to cross Sainte-Catherine Street, which is very commercial. They started a trash fire and were dispersed by the police, before regrouping not far from the town hall and lighting another fire on the tram tracks, which was extinguished by firefighters, a noted our journalist Jean Cittone.

At the start of the evening, the Ile-de-France region indicated on its website the closure of several metro stations located near the Champs-Élysées, for “security measures“. Are concerned, on lines 1, 2, 6, 8, 9 and 12, the stations Argentine, National Assembly, Champs-Élysées Clemenceau, George V, Invalides, Solférino, Charles de Gaulle-Etoiles or Franklin D. Roosevelt. “Connections in the station are impossible“, specifies the RATP, which adds to have acted”due to a demonstration on the public highway and at the request of the police headquarters“. The stations concerned will not reopen before the green light from the authorities.

While the majority of demonstrations against the government’s project are taking place peacefully, in Brest, tensions have been reported by our colleagues in the local press. “After throwing glass bottles over the gates of the sub-prefecture, the police forced the strikers back», note West France. Journalists and Internet users also noted clashes with the police and the use of tear gas, near the Jaurès shopping center. Similarly, the men in blue intervened near the office of the deputy (Horizons) of Finistère, Jean-Charles Larsonneur, according to The Telegram et West France.

While every vote will count to ensure the executive wins against motions of censure, a majority deputy called, this Saturday, for the resignation of the government. Inan interview at ProgressRichard Ramos, MoDem MP for Loiret, believes that France needs a “new national listening government“. And to drive the point home:The Borne government is doomed. The only question that matters is: who will be able to reorganize with the French people?“, he declares to our colleagues.

The deputy, whose reservations about the pension reform have been known for a long time, believes that the executive will not be able to come out on top of the current political sequence without a major overhaul. The new government should «[rebattre] the cards with ministers capable of listening to the French people and not a bunch of arrogants who explain to the French why they are stupid and why they are right”judge Richard Ramos harshly.

Read alsoRetreats: in the Loiret, the “slinger” Ramos on conquered ground

Many Ile-de-France unions have called for a rally at 6 p.m. this Saturday evening, Place d’Italie, in the 13th arrondissement of the capital. The information was relayed in particular by the Île-de-France regional union (Urif) of the CGT, as well as by the Paris branch of the FSU-SNUipp and Sud Éducation 95.

Earlier in the day, the police headquarters announced a ban on gathering in Place de la Concorde, as well as around the Champs-Élysées. A decision taken when violence had enamelled, Thursday and Friday evening, the mobilizations on this iconic place, located a few meters from the National Assembly.

Followed by our colleagues from the local press or by AFP photographers, processions set off at the start of the afternoon in several cities in France. In Nantes, the parade left the Water Mirror, at 3 p.m., according to Ouest-France.

Other mobilizations are underway, such as in Le Mans, where demonstrators threw toilet paper at the Sarthe prefecture, in Chartres, Montpellier, Créteil or Lannion.

New wild demonstration in the heart of Paris. This Saturday, at the start of the afternoon, opponents of the pension reform entered the forum of Les Halles, in the 1st arrondissement of the capital. An action initiated in particular by the Network for the general strike, of which a banner was deployed in the shopping center.

Going beyond the security guards of the place, the demonstrators notably lit a smoke bomb and chanted slogans against the pension reform and the government’s action, such as “Down with 49.3», or «retirement at 60, we fought to win it, we will fight to keep it“. All under the astonished gaze of onlookers. The participants then descended into the corridors of the RER, continuing to chant slogans.

The CGT demands an acceleration of the mobilization of strikers in the refineries of France. The ar end of the facilities at the TotalEnergies refinery in Normandy “started Friday night“, declared on Saturday to AFP the secretary general of the CGT of the Normandy platform, Alexis Antonioli. “Units stop since last night“, he added.

In a press release published on social networks and signed by the national federation of ports and docks of the CGT, the CGT departmental union of Bouches-du-Rhône as well as the national federation of chemical industries of the CGT (the Fnic-CGT) , the union promotes a “riposte massiveagainst the government.

According to the CGT, actions aimed at paralyzing the fuel supply are increasing. Thus, of the seven active refineries in the metropolis:

• The TotalEnergies refinery in Gonfreville-l’Orcheris in the shutdown phase of the facilities“, assures the union
• The TotalEnergies refineries in Donges and La Mèdeare currently discontinued and no product is released».
• The Esso-ExxonMobil refinery in Fos-sur-Merno petroleum products released since March 7»
• That of Gravenchon, managed by the same group, “has already stopped one of its two distillation towers and the other has only a few tens of hours of oil left».
• Finally, the Petroineos refinery in Lavera, “will also trigger the shutdown of the installations by Monday 1 p.m.».

Only the TotalEnergies refinery in Feyzin would therefore operate, says the union, which is also demanding renewable strikes at the three main entry depots for petroleum products imported into France, Le Havre, Dunkirk and Fos-sur-Mer, as well as in the airport refueling stations such as Montpellier and Lyon.

Solicited by Le Figaro, the TotalEnergies group specifies the status of its four facilities. The Feyzin refinery is indeed operating, but “reduced flow“. For his part, Donges is at a standstill “for several weeks for technical reasonsregardless of the current strike. At La Mède, shipments are blocked, and, there again, “biofuel production units […] are shut down for maintenance work regardless of the strike action“, for a week. Finally, in Gonfreville-l’Orcher, “shipments are blocked on the refining side“, leading to disturbances: some units are placed “preferably in recirculation“, others are arrested, and others “remain in normal operation and ensure their production», dit-on.

Finally, on Saturday morning, 37% of the operators – i.e. 98 out of 268 – were on strike on the group’s sites, it is also specified, adding that it is therefore not a question of a third “of all refinery employees».

Will the requisitions of employees make it possible to fight against the accumulation of uncollected waste in the streets of the French capital? This Saturday morning, the police prefecture shared a video of a pickup truck in motion, noting that “Garbage collection and treatment continues». «It was a necessity“, commented the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, thanking the services of the prefecture.

A few hours later, the town hall of Paris noted a “stabilisation» the volume of uncollected waste: its last statement, Friday, reported some 10,000 tonnes of garbage awaiting collection in the streets.

Asked by Le Figaro in the morning, the prefecture confirmed that the requisitions of employees had begun. “5 truck garages have resumed activity, 2 treatment concession companies as well as several agents have been required since yesterday to ensure the collection and treatment of garbage“, we commented without further details. Thursday, the prefect, Laurent Nuñez, indicated to the council of Paris to have received from the town hall a “list of agents of the city of Parisconcerned by the requisitions, the municipal services directly managing the collection in half of the districts of the capital, as we reminded in this article. On Friday evening, the Derichebourg company, in charge of garbage collection in six boroughs, explained in a press release:to have been requisitioned“by the police headquarters”with a view to contributing to a minimum waste collection service».

Read alsoGarbage collectors’ strike: how the state will impose the requisition of personnel, against the will of Anne Hidalgo

For their part, the opponents of the reform remain mobilized. The strikers at the three waste incineration sites produced by Paris have set up “filter damsto let garbage collection trucks pass, a union representative told AFP on Saturday, confirming information from Release. In a general assembly on Friday, the opponents “renews the action until Tuesday included, with a filtering of trucks” in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine) Saturday and Sunday, then in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis) Monday and Tuesday, said Fatiha Lahrech, CGT union representative of the Issy-les- Moulineaux. Allowing trucks to pass is asecurity decision to limit the risk of an epidemic“, she explained. By mid-morning Saturday, only three passed.

In Ivry-sur-Seine, the largest of Syctom’s three incineration sites, the police came on Friday to dislodge the strikers from one of the two adjoining garages, before withdrawing. Access to the factory as to the two garbage truck garages is therefore still blocked, AFP noted. According to the CGT, 95% of the employees of the Ivry treatment site and all the drivers of the two garages are on strike.

After two evenings marked by violence on the Place de la Concorde as well as in the surrounding streets, the police headquarters decided to take action: the authorities announced, on Saturday, the ban on gatherings at this emblematic place, located near many places of power, including the Élysée Palace and the National Assembly.

«Due to serious risks of disturbance to public order and security […]any gathering on the Place de la Concorde public thoroughfare and its surroundings as well as in the area of ​​the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is prohibited.“, declared the prefecture to AFP. “People who try to gather there will be systematically evicted by the police.and may be verbalized, it was added.

This announcement comes as calls to gather again on the Place de la Concorde are circulating on social networks.

It is an unusual position taken by one of the richest men in the world. In a message posted on Twitter, Elon Musk responded to a user who spoke about the protests in France on Friday, explaining that “people are tired of dictators pretending to be democratic leaders». «The retirement age in France is too low. It’s a legitimate problem“, Observed the entrepreneur, head of Tesla and the blue bird social network.

This is not the first time that the businessman has taken sides for pension reform. At the end of January, Elon Musk had responded to a user posting on Twitter a video of a demonstration in Lyon. “Macron is taking a difficult but just action. The retirement age of 62 was set when life expectancy was much shorter. It is impossible for a small number of workers to support a massive number of retirees“, he had commented.

In the morning, rallies and demonstrations have already taken place in several cities in France. This is the case at La Flèche, where two hundred people marched,according West France. In Quimperlé, 1,200 participants were identified by the media. In Roanne, the prefecture counted 1,600 demonstrators, against 1,200 in Saint-Étienne. In Le Havre, several hundred people pounded the pavement, reports France 3. Same observation in Périgueux.

The violence observed during the demonstrations against the pension reform since Thursday underlines the will of the thugs of the radical left “to humiliate the state and demolish it», recalls Vincent Trémolet de Villers, deputy editorial director, in the editorial of the Figaro of this Saturday. “There are several hundred of them to frankly display their desire to overthrow the regime, but they benefit from an indulgence that contrasts with the intransigence that strikes the other end of the political spectrum.“, he also notes.

Find the editorial of the day by clicking on this link.

Read also“Fires, violence … The incredible feeling of impunity of the far left”

The examination of these two texts will be scrutinized closely. The two motions of censure tabled by deputies, following the use, by Élisabeth Borne, of article 49.3 of the Constitution, will be studied, in principle, “Monday, March 20 at 4 p.m.,subject to the decision of the Conference of Presidents”, according to the site of the National Assembly.

In the first, Marine Le Pen and her group accuse the Prime Minister of having recourse to this article “to pass an unfair and unnecessary reform». «While the French are massively demonstrating their opposition to this reform, the national representation has never been able to vote on this text, which is, despite the legality of the process, a serious attack on democratic principles.“, denounce the elected RN.

The second is intended to be cross-partisan. We find,among its 91 signatorieselected representatives from the Libertés, Indépendants, Outre-mer et Territoires group, such as Charles de Courson or Bertrand Pancher, ecologist deputies, such as Delphine Batho, Aurélien Taché or Julien Bayou, socialists, such as Marie-Noëlle Battistel, Christine Pirès Beaune or Valérie Rabault, members of the radical left, like Stéphane Peu or the Insoumis, like Elsa Faucillon, Éric Coquerel or Rachel Kéké.

Read alsoPensions: after 49.3, did the transpartisan motion of censure Does she have a chance of being adopted?

The signatories are indignant at a 49.3 “apogee of a denial of democracy unacceptable in its constancy and its contempt for our institutions and our social bodies“. They also denounce the use of the social security amending finance bill (PLFRSS) to pass the reform, and accuse the executive of doing “the choice of circumventing our institutions in order to have an unjust reform adopted which did not enjoy the support of the population while that of Parliament was not acquired». «In the end, this bill will never have been passed by the National Assembly. He has no parliamentary legitimacy“, adds the text, considering that the social republic”has been flouted». «This pension reform project has neither social legitimacy, nor popular legitimacy, nor democratic legitimacy“, he concludes.

«On continue“: this weekend, opponents of pension reform want to continue the mobilization, calling for demonstrations in several cities. Thursday evening, the inter-union had thus called for “local union meetings this weekend“, ahead of the next national day of action, scheduled for March 23.

In Nantes, a mobilization must take place at the mirror of water at 2 p.m., when another is planned in Caen, at the same time, in front of the prefecture of Calvados. In Brest, a rally is announced at 2:30 p.m. Place de la Liberté, while in Bordeaux, opponents must meet at 3 p.m. Place de la Victoire. Blois, Orléans, Marseille, Lannion, Annecy, Tulle, Vesoul, Chambéry… Our colleagues from the local press report multiple meetings throughout the day.

In addition to transport, in the refineries, the strikers want to increase the pressure: on the TotalEnergies site in Gonfreville-l’Orcher, “main units will start shutting down from tomorrow(samedi)» et“normally the refinery will be shut down this weekend or Monday at the latest“Warned the CGT coordinator, Éric Sellini. On the Petroineos site near Marseille, opponents are also preparing to stop the installations, from Monday, while fuel shipments were stopped on Friday, according to the CGT.

Similarly, garbage collectors are still mobilized against pension reform in many metropolitan areas of France. In Paris, more than 10,000 tons of waste are piling up in the streets, according to the town hall. The police headquarters, however, said on Saturday that “Garbage collection and treatment continues“, following the requisitions decided by the prefect.

The strikers are also mobilizing in the energy sector. Le Figaro takes stock of the mobilizations in this article.

If the unions mobilized in the refineries and oil depots are brandishing the threat of a shortage of fuel to make the government bend, for the time being, the stations in France are supplied without problem on the whole. According to calculations made by Fig Data, less than 3% of the pumps were in difficulty in the country this Friday: 1.9% of the stations were partially out of at least one product, and 1.1% were in total rupture.

Disparities remain according to the territories: if, in a majority of the metropolitan departments, less than 5% of the stations were in difficulty, this rate exceeded 10% in four departments: Vaucluse (11.4%), Loire-Atlantique (13 .9%), Gard (15.4%) and Bouches-du-Rhône (17.9%).

Read alsoFuel shortage: 3% of service stations in difficulty, 18% in the Bouches-du-Rhône

As a reminder, France has seven refineries in mainland France. Four are managed by TotalEnergies: Gonfreville-l’Orcher (Seine-Maritime), Donges (Loire-Atlantique) and Feyzin (Rhône), to which is added the biorefinery of Grandpuits (Seine-et-Marne) and that of The Mede (Bouches-du-Rhône), the first being closed until 2024. For its part, Esso-ExxonMobil manages two refineries, Port Jerome Gravenchon (Seine-Maritime) and FOS on sea (Bouches-du-Rhone). Finally, the Petroineos group maintains a platform at Lavera (Bouches-du-Rhone). In addition to this assessment, there is an installation in the Overseas Territories, held by the Société anonyme de la raffinerie des Antilles (Sara).

Read alsoFrom abroad to the gas station, the long journey of oil to your car

Are we heading towards a shortage of diesel and gasoline? For the past few days, CGT representatives from the oil and chemicals sector have been brandishing this threat to make the executive bend. “Since March 7, no drop of fuel has come out of the Donges refinery“, thus declared Friday the CGT secretary of the place, Fabien Privé Saint-Lanne, on BFMTV, adding that “shortages will be felt quickly“. Same story with Sébastien Varagnol, CGT representative of the Petroineos refinery, in Lavera, in the south of France: since Friday afternoon, “the deliveries [de carburant] are arrested“Said the trade unionist, adding that he would like to move towards stopping the installations from this Monday.

A few days earlier, the representative of the CGT in the Bouches-du-Rhône and candidate for the succession of Philippe Martinez, Olivier Mateu, had, for his part, estimated that “it’s time to fill up on gas“, while the social movement risks disrupting the supply chain. Words that did not leave Roland Lescure unmoved: “Today, most gas stations in France and Navarre have gasoline“, reassured the Minister Delegate in charge of Industry on FranceInfo, Saturday. “What shocks me above all are the arsonist firefighters. We try to create panic, anxiety, so that people go and get gas and we end up potentially without“, denounced the member of the government, thus targeting, without naming them, the leaders of the CGT.

Referring to the social conflict last fall, which had caused shortages in many stations in France, Roland Lescure warned that the executive would be able to take responsibility in the event of difficulties. Requisitions of employees could then be decided, like what the government decided for garbage collectors in Paris: “We are not going to leave 65 million French men and women, and a country, together, blocked by a few dozen individuals“, he underlined. “Do not panic“, he also said.

Read alsoGarbage collectors’ strike: Anne Hidalgo targeted from all sides

To the SNCF, the unions have promised to remain mobilized against the plans of the executive. However, the traffic seems to be improving compared to the previous days: concretely, on Saturday and Sunday, the railway group expects to circulate around four TGV Unheard of and Ouigo out of five, and three TER out of five, on average. In addition, the day, three Intercities will circulate on five, and the Intercities at night will partially resume.

In Ile-de-Francethe SNCF foresees traffic “normal to near-normal» on the T4, T1 and T13 trams. Three out of four RER A and B will run, against one out of two RER C and D. The traffic will bequasi-normalon line E, likewise. On the train side, service will be close to normal, or even normal, on lines J, K, L, N and U. One in two trains will run on lines P and R, and two out of three on line H.

For its part, the RATP expects normal traffic on its bus, tram and metro network. On the RER side, the A works in a “almost normal», with three out of four trains on average. For its part, the RER B runs without problems during rush hour, but one out of two trains will run during off-peak hours on the northern part of the line.

For its part, the sector air shouldn’t be disrupted until Sunday”In the evening“, According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC), which expects disruptions to and from the airports of Paris-Orly and Marseille-Provence.

The unions had warned the executive against the risk of social conflagration: this is, in essence, the message given by the boss of the CGT this Saturday morning. Invited to Europe 1, Philippe Martinez recalled that the organizations opposed to the pension reform had “alerted the president” of the Republic: in its press release of March 7, the inter-union had thus written that “the silence of the President of the Republic constitutes a serious democratic problem which inevitably leads to a situation which could become explosive». «No one can tell us that we did not alert the President of the Republic“, underlined the trade unionist. “On the sidelines of the protests, there are problems“, recognized Philippe Martinez, while underlining the good general progress of the mobilizations of the inter-union, since the beginning of the social movement.

Facing “power grab“Emmanuel Macron, the inter-union promises to remain mobilized, in the coming days, believing that the strikes and demonstrations have already made it possible to prevent the executive from obtaining a majority for its text. “It is the result of the mobilization of the world of work and the population», welcomed Philippe Martinez. This weekend,gatherings» and «manifestationsare expected before the ninth national day, next Thursday. “We call to strengthen renewable strikes“, Hammered the representative of the central.

This Friday, at the end of the day as well as in the evening, rallies took place in several cities in France. Tensions and damage have been noted in many of them: in Paris, the streets around the Place de la Concorde have once again been the scene of clashes, when in Strasbourg the police intervened “Many times“, According to the prefect of Bas-Rhin.

In Lyon, too, several dozen people dressed in black sowed disorder on the peninsula and on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse this Friday evening, despite the ban on gatherings in the areas of the town hall and of the prefecture. After several damages, in particular to a Century 21 agency and to street furniture, in the 1st arrondissement, several dozen people broke down the door of the town hall in the 4th arrondissement, on the Croix-Rousse plateau and tried to put the fire indicates the prefecture which deplores the ransacking of the premises. The prefecture announces 36 arrests and denounces the violence, as does the mayor of the metropolis, Grégory Doucet. “A borough town hall is first and foremost the place where people come, […]it is a place of daily public services“, he underlined on RMC, Saturday morning. “This attack is intolerable, […] unacceptable“, he added, considering that”violence has no place in the expression of discontent».

Two days after Elisabeth Borne spoke in the National Assembly, the mobilizations against the pension reform continue. Le Figaro offers you to follow live the developments of the day on this explosive file, which triggered new actions on the side of the unions, as well as demonstrations enamelled with violence.

You can also find our Friday live by clicking on this link.