Tens of thousands of civil servants, including teachers, firefighters and healthcare workers, have marched in cities across France to demand higher pay, as students clashed with the police in separate protests over conditions at their schools.
asserted
students → include → schools
Unions said some 300,000 people took part in the one-day strike action nationwide, while police on Tuesday estimated a turnout of 30,000 in the capital, Paris.
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police → say → capital
The workers also demanded better working conditions and expressed anger at the government’s planned budget cuts.
asserted
workers → demand → cuts
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Protests also took place at more than 400 schools, about 40 of which were blockaded and 44 of which faced attempted blockades.
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44 → draw → blockades
Ten people, both students and staff members, were wounded, and at least 440 were detained, officials said.
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officials → wound → ?
The strikes and the student unrest came two days before the government is to unveil its draft budget and seven months before the presidential election.
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government → come → election
According to unions, the government proposes freezing base salaries for state employees in 2027 to save 2 billion euros ($2.3bn).
uncertain
government → accord → euros
Unions say the freezes have cost workers a double-digit share of their purchasing power, and they are demanding a 6 percent raise.
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they → say → raise
‘Red alert’
Sophie Binet, general secretary of the General Confederation of Labor, called the protests “a red alert”.
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Binet → call → protests
“This anger is not going away.
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anger → go → ?
The government must look again at the budget,” she told Al Jazeera.
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she → look → Jazeera
She gave the government 48 hours to reverse the planned cuts before her union decides on further strike action.
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union → give → action
The Education Ministry said just more than 11 percent of teachers and other school staff went on strike.
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percent → say → strike
French teachers are paid less on average than their counterparts in other European countries.
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teachers → pay → countries
Fewer than 1 in 10 other civil servants took part, and fewer still in hospitals, with the loss of a day’s pay a likely factor in the turnout.
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loss → take → turnout
France’s civil aviation regulator had warned of flight disruptions at some airports.
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regulator → warn → airports
Professional firefighters, who say this summer’s huge wildfires exposed a lack of resources, were among those marching.
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wildfires → say → those
The government has already unveiled measures to help households cope with a spike in energy prices driven by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, but it has failed to quell the discontent with Macron and his administration.
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it → unveil → Macron
Students, meanwhile, have been protesting outside hundreds of schools over timetables, class sizes, teacher shortages and overheated classrooms during this year’s heatwaves.
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Students → protest → heatwaves
The demonstrations began in the Ile-de-France region around Paris and spread to other cities.
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demonstrations → begin → cities
In addition to the 10 students and staff members who were hurt, 48 law enforcement officials were injured, authorities said, as students in some places set fire to rubbish bins and hurled projectiles, and officers responded with batons and tear gas.
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officers → hurt → batons
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told BFMTV that 440 people had been detained.
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people → tell → BFMTV
“We don’t have the final tally yet, but I’m told two thirds led to police custody,” he said.
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he → have → custody
There is nothing that justifies violence.”
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that → be → violence
Education Minister Edouard Geffray condemned the clashes on social media.
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Geffray → condemn → media
“This violence is unspeakable,” he wrote, adding that legal proceedings had begun.
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proceedings → write → ?
“To legitimize it or… call for an expansion of the blockades is to endanger both our students and public officials.
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legitimize → legitimize → students
In Seine-Saint-Denis, a low-income suburb of Paris, Bally Bagayoko, the district’s mayor and a member of the hard-left France Unbowed party, joined hundreds of students protesting at the Lycee Paul-Eluard.
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Bagayoko → leave → Eluard
He led them in singing the national anthem and called the protests “completely legitimate”, saying poorer areas received fewer resources than wealthier ones.
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areas → lead → ones
Outside the Arago school in Paris, students, some with their faces covered, sat on dumpsters to block the entrance beneath a placard reading “Macron explosion”.
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faces → cover → explosion
A banner at the Helene-Boucher school read “Fewer cops, more money”.
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banner → read → cops
“We want fewer police because we think there is a huge amount of police repression, both against high school student movements and social movements more generally,” said Mael Breton, a final-year student there.
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Breton → want → movements
“This is a real problem, especially when there is such a lack of funding… here at our school and in the national education system more broadly.”
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This → be → system
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Monday condemned the high school protests as irresponsible but acknowledged that the “difficulties of high schools must be heard and addressed”.
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difficulties → condemn → schools
Jean-Luc Melenchon, a hard-left presidential contender, accused the government of steadily dismantling public services as he addressed protesters in Paris and urged his supporters to mobilise against the draft budget.
asserted
he → accuse → budget
A Toluna Harris poll on Monday suggested that Melenchon and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally, would advance to next year’s presidential run-off, with Le Pen best placed to win.
uncertain
Pen → suggest → off
The Aporia
