Thousands of people demonstrated, this Thursday, throughout France, at the call of the CGT in particular, for employment and the defense of public services, in a particular situation with the Covid-19.
In Paris, the procession started around 2:30 p.m. from Place de la République to reach Place de la Nation.
The Parisian demonstration is only one demonstration among others, in France.
In all, 175 initiatives have been identified across the country.
This Thursday morning, in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) 2,500 participants (1,700 according to the police) had already demonstrated.
In Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), they were 2,800. The unions claimed 1,500 demonstrators in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine), 1,100 according to the police.
At least 1,500 people gathered in #Nantes for the # greve4fevrier, departure of the demonstration at the moment after the various speeches of the unions asking for more means for the public services and the world of culture.
pic.twitter.com/WP6DADERVV
- TheoPrn (@Theop_rn) February 4, 2021
In Paris, wearing a “culture in danger” mask, the secretary general of the CGT, Philippe Martinez pleaded for the reopening of cultural places before the start of the event.
The day before, several actors in the cultural world had published an open letter and a petition to raise awareness of their cause.
"The tip of the iceberg"
Faced with the risk that the day of Thursday mobilizes little, Philippe Martinez explained that employees feared to take to the streets "because there is the health context", but "that's why the anger and the mobilizations are not up to par ”.
"We are in a dynamic that may seem slow in a period where everything is complicated" but the demonstration is "the tip of the iceberg in terms of social anger", judged Simon Dutreuil (Solidaires).
The mobilization of this Thursday is a melting pot of social demands in the country, in an economic situation made complicated by the Covid-19 crisis.
The unions are demanding more actions towards the most precarious and enough to limit the elimination of jobs, in the private and the public.