French protest groups and unions called on Sunday (October 25) for further demonstrations as they sought to maintain pressure on the government after a huge security operation helped to contain unrest during nationwide rallies on Saturday, Reuters reported. The Interior Ministry said 410,000 people took part in Saturday's marches as authorities deployed 70,000 police, helping to avert a repeat of the looting and vandalism that swept many cities on October 17.

Source: Reuters, Oct 25

Labour leaders urged further protests next Saturday and a nationwide strike on November 5, saying frustration over wages, living costs and public services was spreading far beyond the student movement that first mobilised last month, Reuters said. The Business Standard, reporting the same Reuters dispatch, also carried the October 31 and November 5 calls and the ministry's 410,000 figure.

Source: Reuters via The Business Standard, Oct 25

410,000People the Interior Ministry said took part in Saturday's marches across France
70,000Police deployed for Saturday's rallies
Oct 31Date of the next called demonstration — SUD Education said it would join it
Nov 5Date of the called nationwide strike

"An aggregation of anger"

"We see an aggregation of anger," Murielle Guilbert, co-leader of the left-wing Solidaires trade union federation, told BFM TV, saying grievances from students, workers, firefighters and other groups were converging. "We call on people to take to the streets next Saturday." The SUD Education teaching union said it would join the October 31 demonstration, while the large CGT union said it would decide during the week, according to Reuters.

Source: Reuters / BFM TV, Oct 25

The Yellow Vests, the grassroots movement that emerged in 2018 as a revolt against fuel taxes, also called for mass rallies next Saturday, including sit-ins outside town halls and the National Assembly. "There is anger in this country. It's growing in schools and universities, on roundabouts, in neighbourhoods, on farms and in workplaces," activist Azelma Sigaux told reporters.

Macron's room to respond is minimal, Reuters says

In 2019, President Emmanuel Macron was able to find the resources to reduce fuel costs in response to the Yellow Vests, Reuters noted. Seven years on, strained public finances leave him with little room to meet protesters' demands; his mandate expires next April and his centrist party no longer has the majority needed to pass major legislation. Saturday's rallies ended with a final Interior Ministry tally of 1,314 people detained and 53 security-force members injured, as Awaaz Punjab reported earlier on Sunday.

Source: Reuters, Oct 25