In a festive atmosphere — and plenty of rain in Paris — hundreds of thousands, including children, marched throughout France on Monday under the watchful eye of thousands of police officers and many law enforcement drones, despite efforts to ban their use.
France’s traditional May Day parade celebrating workers’ rights and achievements was expected to draw even larger crowds than usual this year against the backdrop of fierce public rejection of a law increasing the retirement age. In the capital alone, there were 5,000 police officers deployed.
Since the pension measure was presented, there have been 12 days of protests and strikes across France, with violence often breaking out after sunset in the heart of many cities, including Paris, where demonstrators burned dumpsters holding trash that had piled up for days afterA rundown of police and union estimates for turnout in various cities across the country indicate more people than last year.
While the government has invited the unions to negotiate over further changes to social benefits that Macron has planned, so far they have refused.
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