The French Ministry of the Interior has reported 440 arrests in the new student protests held this Tuesday, called to demand more resources for education and which took place at the same time as the public sector strike. In this context, mass demonstrations have developed throughout the country, with 206,000 attendees at the marches, according to Interior data, while the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) raises the figure to 300,000 participants.
"Throughout the national territory, 440 arrests have been made," declared the French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Núñez, to the French channel BFMTV, before which he denounced a large proportion of arrests for "material damage and assaults on the internal security forces; that is, violence against law enforcement agents."
The Interior minister also pointed out the existence of "48 members of the internal security forces injured" throughout the day, incidents that he described as "quite serious."
At the same time, Núñez emphasized that "the internal security forces have intervened in an extremely proportionate manner, always in coordination with the directors of the centers to avoid serious incidents," criticizing, in contrast, the "great responsibility of some in exposing young people in public spaces."
According to the report from the Ministry of Education, by the end of the day, 338 educational centers were affected, of which 45 remained blocked and another 46 had suffered attempts to block, compared to the 416 centers that, at some point during the day, were impacted by the mobilizations. The department also reported a total of 31 injuries among students and staff.
On the contrary, the Secondary Students' Union (Union Syndicale Lycéenne), which had encouraged secondary students to join the public sector strike, claims that the number of blocked centers rises to 400, out of an approximate total of 3,700 institutes in France.
The CGT denounces repression and challenges the official figures of the protest
For its part, the General Confederation of Labor has condemned the "fierce repression" exercised by the French authorities against mobilized students "to denounce their study conditions, the lack of staff, and overcrowded classrooms."
In this context, the union has conveyed "its total assurance" and has made a "call to its unions to organize the protection of this movement."
Regarding the public sector strike, the CGT rejects the count of 206,000 protesters disseminated by the Interior and raises it to 300,000 people spread across "more than 180 gatherings throughout France," with 70,000 just in Paris. In this regard, it has highlighted a "significantly higher level of mobilization" than that of the last major joint strike in the Public Administration, held on December 5, 2024.
"Our country is sustained thanks to its public employees and the work of those who generate wealth," the union has emphasized, which has pointed out that "they were on the front lines during this catastrophic summer, a consequence of years of austerity in public services" that have included, among other cuts, "45,000 hospital beds eliminated (and) 1,000 fewer fire trucks in the last 20 years."
The union organization has warned of public services "at the limit of their possibilities" and has denounced that "France is one of the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that pays its officials the worst," while "indignation grows over salaries and pensions that no longer suffice, and over the price of fuels, rents, and the cost of living, which keep rising."
In this scenario, the CGT has rejected the "austerity budget of 54 billion euros" proposed by the Government and which, in its view, "continues to attack public services and prolongs, once again, the freeze on the value of the wage index." "Meanwhile, the Government allows oil companies to enrich themselves with their war profits, and dividends soar," it has countered.
For this reason, the Confederation has given the Government "48 hours to thoroughly review its proposal," the official announcement of which is scheduled for next Thursday, October 1.
"It is necessary to increase the salaries of officials, allocate resources to our public services, and stop emptying the pockets of workers, pensioners, the sick, tenants, and families," the Confederation has stated.
Meanwhile, the central has reminded that "indignation is growing, the fronts of struggle are multiplying and there are already upcoming scheduled dates," three of them set for next week: the feminist demonstrations "against sexist and sexual violence" on Monday, October 5; the strike of workers in the energy sector on Tuesday, October 6, and the stoppage of employees of the energy company TotalEnergies on Thursday, October 8. In addition, on Wednesday, October 14, "an action of pensioners against the freezing of pensions" is called.
"The government and the employers must come out of denial and make the billionaires and multinationals finally pay," concluded the CGT.