Mass demonstrations demanding a higher minimum wage took place in France on November 5. The actions were accompanied by clashes with police and arson. A total of 448 people were detained across the country. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the French Interior Ministry, about 575,000 people took to the streets. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) union estimated the number of participants at 1.6 million.
The Interior Ministry said that in Marseille, Nantes, Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg, groups of hundreds of people attacked police officers, which the ministry described as "radically minded left-wing extremists." According to preliminary data, 86 cases of arson were recorded across the country.
The authorities also reported damage to schools and injured staff at educational institutions. According to dpa, in Toulouse, rioters set fire inside a school, smashed classrooms and destroyed computers.
In the Paris suburb of La Courneuve, a young man stabbed a student who was participating in a school blockade. In Lille, people were evacuated from an educational institution after the entrance of the building was set on fire.
The head of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), Marylise Léon, called for raising the minimum wage by 100 euros per month after taxes.
The head of the CGT, Sophie Binet, said that the growth of the minimum wage in France lags behind other European countries.
"France is the European country where the minimum wage has grown the least over the past 10 years. We have become a country with a low level of pay," she said.
Currently, the minimum hourly wage in France is 12.31 euros before taxes, or about 1,867 euros per month with a 35-hour work week.
For comparison, in Germany, from January 2027, the minimum wage is to rise to 14.60 euros per hour.
At the end of October, mass protests against the rising cost of living and problems in the education system already took place in France. About a thousand people were detained then.