Yellow Vests mass protests enjoyed a third weekend of militant action across France, with trades unions and other groups supporting. John Mullen reports from Paris

For the third consecutive Saturday, the Yellow Vests protests across France reached a global audience, with over 100,000 participating across the country and at least 580 blocades. A gallery of images and videos from the day is gathered below.

Of course, the media like to show mainly the couple of dozen burning cars, but this is not the principal element of the wave of resistance.

The Yellow Vest movement, begun as spontaneous popular protest against fuel tax rises, has broadened its revolt.

At least a hundred high schools were blockaded across the country (French high schools work Saturday morning). In many towns, Yellow Vests and trades unions marched together, while in the Paris area some Black activist organizations called to march along with the Yellow Vests; Road blocks on motorway junctions are having a big slowdown effect on commerce. Meanwhile, In the French overseas territory of Reunion island, the whole economy is blockaded by the Yellow Vests.

On the ground in Paris

I went to the demonstration planned for the Champs Elysées, which ended in a long battle with police, industrial amounts of tear gas, a hundred injured and a couple of hundred arrests. Behind the Arc de Triomphe in the extremely rich part of town (a one-bedroom flat will set you back a million euros), I saw vague barricades being put together from street furniture. I saw that the bank branches were thoroughly smashed up by Black Bloc types, some with anarchist logos, and not wearing Yellow. The rest of the Yellow Vests did not seem to mind the banks being smashed up, though. The small chic bistros, organic food supermarkets and the very expensive clothes shops were left alone: the media story of wild animals on the rampage is, as usual, nonsense. The atmosphere was friendly. A building worker had left the keys in a JVC digger, and demonstrators were trying to work out how it worked or what use it could be put to against the police.

Naturally, we do not know how far police agents provocateurs were involved in the smashing up of banks and cars, but it has to be remembered that this is not an uncommon police tactic.

The most visible element of the crowd of a few thousand Yellow Vests was working-class people from Brittany (with Breton flags) and from other parts of France. There were five or six French tricolour flags. At one moment, a section of the demonstrators broke into the national anthem, which calls to “take arms, citizens, form up our battalions” and wishes that the farms of France should be irrigated by the blood of the powerful. After the first verse the song turned into a chant taken up widely: “Macron, resign!” This singing and chanting shows the novelty and no doubt the contradictions of the political base of the movement.

Party political symbols, banners or placards were nowhere to be seen. It was understood that most Yellow Vests do not want them on demonstrations in Paris, or on the motorway blockades, though in other towns the situation is different. Some people had written slogans on their yellow vests: anti-capitalist slogans, “France awake!”  types of slogan, or references to the French Revolution of 1789. The press says there were small far right groups of thugs there, but I didn’t see any.

That was on the Champs Elysées. Elsewhere in Paris, the Stock Exchange was attacked, a joint Yellow Vest – Trade Union rally was held, and a CGT parallel demo had Yellow Vest people involved too. In other French towns such as Bordeaux and Toulouse there was fighting, and in Rennes, Marseilles and elsewhere joint Yellow Vest and Trade Union actions were very much in evidence.

Can Macron survive this?

Some of the British media are suggesting he can’t.  My thoughts are as follows.

The numbers of people, and the economic effects of this movement on the economy are considerably smaller than last Spring’s union-led movements, which Macron won. He was helped by the fact that the bosses were prepared to wait the movement out, since Macron’s so-called “neither left nor right” game was their last card after neither right nor social democratic governments had succeeded in accelerating neoliberalism enough for the bosses’ liking.

But there are other important differences. Up to 83% of the population including over 50 % of those who voted Macron in the first round of the presidentials express some support for the movement in polls, whereas numbers for those thinking Macron is doing a good job hover around 20%. As we know, public opinion does not bring down presidents, but this is quite extreme, and the numbers may hold up despite 24 hour a day media lies.  In addition, the symbolic power of burning cars on the Champs Elysées every Saturday afternoon is not good for Macron in the world media (this week’s idiot prize goes to Time magazine which headlined on civil war).

Thirdly, the main body of the Yellow Vests come from a section of the working-class population not usually prone to revolt. It seems to me more threatening to Macron than riots in poor suburbs, for example.

What are the options for President ‘Manu’?

I am expecting the President to try to wait it out, and meanwhile ban all demonstrations in Paris next week, for instance. On Sunday, as I write, he seems to be hesitating, and has organised meetings between his Prime Mininister and each of the Political Parties represented in parliament before deciding what to do.

Ten days ago, he tried the “friendly” approach, and two yellow vests met with the environment minister. A few days later the Prime Minister invited very publicly a delegation to meet him, and in the end most of them refused, some because he would not allow the meeting to be live streamed to social media.

Macron seems determined not to make significant concessions – in particular he does not want to freeze the January fuel tax rise, which would be an obvious concession to make, and his Prime Minister Édouard Philippe has announced there will be no rise in the minimum wage (presently standing at 1188 a month for a 35-hour week). He has dispatched his sharpest ministers to all the TV chat shows they can get onto.

Governments over the last 25 years in France, faced with mass revolt, have often slowed down their neoliberal attacks on the rest of us. But Macron sold himself to the capitalist class as the one who would not do that, who would instead transform the country into a “Start-up nation” of entrepreneurs.

And the bosses are in a hurry. Among many others, two huge neoliberal attacks are in the air. A reform of the pension system so retired people, in particular from the public sector, get far less money, and a plan for university tuition fees to be raised massively. The initial stage of the latter plan is to make non-EU students pay a few thousand euros a year instead of a few hundred. Students organizations were demonstrating against this on Saturday.

The key question for the week to come is whether the spreading of the movement to high schools and unions, and/or a link up with the ongoing refinery strikes will pose the question more sharply and threaten Macron’s position.

Responses from left and right: what next for the movement?

Political reactions are coming in thick and fast. Mélenchon, leader of the France Insoumise, underlined the responsibility of aggressive policing in the sparking of violence (some demonstrators were gassed at 9am as soon as they approached the Champs Elysées: the press interviewed a retired woman who recounted this). There may well be a joint Communist Party-France Insoumise proposal for a parliamentary vote of no confidence in the government.

Marine Le Pen was obliged yesterday to clarify her position concerning some of the movement’s main demands and explained that she was opposed to any rise in the minimum wage. Her party is proposing government help for small businesses who have high fuel bills, showing more clearly the class base of the party.

There are already calls for a further day of action next Saturday 8^th December, and in some places, high school students are planning blockades in the next few days. On the 8^th December there are climate marches in several cities. Macron’s pathetic excuse for the fuel tax rises is the environment, whereas in fact he is busy closing down thousands of kilometres of regional railway lines, cutting the funding for local government, and slashing the social housing programmes which allow employees to live near their workplaces. So it would be good to draw the links.

Gallery of images and videos – Twitter

— In central Paris —

Le comportement de Macron est inacceptable, c’est lui qui sème le désordre et la colère !

Au lieu de gazer les manifestants, il devrait écouter les revendications des #giletsjaunes ! pic.twitter.com/2ZoAPSb9Zt

— Eric Coquerel (@ericcoquerel) December 1, 2018

— Scenes by the Arc de Triomphe as police reinforcements charge protesters —

Situation extrêmement tendue prés de l’arc de triomphe juste après l’arrivée de renforts policiers qui se font caillassés. Foule hétéroclite déter et solidaire. #arcdetriomphe #giletsjaunes #paris #1erDecembre pic.twitter.com/vMRkwvVHUm

— Printemps social (@PrintempsSocial) December 1, 2018

— Rail worker trade unionists protest in solidarity in Paris: “For the honour of workers, and for a better world, though Macron doesn’t want it we are here!” —

Le chant des cheminots qui manifestent avec les #GiletsJaunes bd Haussmann : “Pour l’honneur des travailleurs, et pour un monde meilleur, même si Macron ne veut pas nous on est là !” #1erDecembre pic.twitter.com/JwI0fokDf5

— RévolutionPermanente (@RevPermanente) December 1, 2018

— Student opposing fee increases march alongside Gilets Jaunes in Paris —

#GiletsJaunes #paris les étudiants mobilises contre la hausse des frais d’inscription aux cotes des gilets jaunes, cheminots, collectif @laveritepradama au niveau d’opéra pic.twitter.com/kqP5DW2S62

— RévolutionPermanente (@RevPermanente) December 1, 2018

— The runway blockage at Nantes airport —

BREAKING: #Giletsjaunes protesters storm the runway of the airport of #Nantes, #France. All flights were stopped. pic.twitter.com/BWt2cpSebn

— Ali Özkök – علي أزكوك (@Ozkok_) December 1, 2018

A l’unanimité les #giletsjaunes optent pour un barrage filtrant devant l’aéroport de #Nantes . Presseocean pic.twitter.com/3011N58eiK

— DIRECTPO (@DIRECTPO) December 1, 2018

— In Lille, “Yes to the ecology, no to hypocrisy!”, “Macron give back the dough!”, “Macron: resign!”, as trade unionists join the protests —

« Oui à l’écologie, non à l’hypocrisie ! », « #Macron rends le pognon !  », « Macron démission ! ».
À #Lille, heureux de voir les syndicats qui décident de marcher en appui, derrière cette France en colère, cette marée pacifique de #GiletsJaunes. #1erDecembre pic.twitter.com/Qda9NRGxiq

— Adrien Quatennens (@AQuatennens) December 1, 2018

#Manifestation des #GiletsJaunes à #Lille cet après-midi, bonne ambiance générale. #photography #streetphotography pic.twitter.com/FnIzTTU6TT

— Richie Lem’ (@richie_lem) December 1, 2018

— Bordeaux —

À #Bordeaux le cortège des #GiletsJaunes est impressionnant ! Merci à notre reporter insoumis Christian pour ces images ! #1erDécembre #CanalFi pic.twitter.com/aetTycvSyU

— La France insoumise (@FranceInsoumise) December 1, 2018

— Marseille, where CGT trade unionists protest alongside Gilets Jaunes —

Défilé de motards en #GiletsJaunes au rassemblement #CGT devant la préfecture à #Marseille #1erDécembre
Merci à notre reporter insoumis Pierre-Alain pour les images #CanalFi pic.twitter.com/EiUgGIdw26

— La France insoumise (@FranceInsoumise) December 1, 2018

Avec les #GiletsJaunes de #Marseille pour dire non au racket fiscal ! pic.twitter.com/lsJTMDRXfq

— Eléonore Bez (@EleonoreBez) December 1, 2018

— Toulouse and Paris: Gilets Jaunes meet with marching ‘Red Vests’ – trade unionists – and embrace —

— Assorted images from around the country —

Lille, Toulouse, Caen, Lyon, Nice, Avignon, Bordeaux, Metz, Marseille…
D’après @EPhilippePM, les #GiletsJaunes mobilisés dans la rue, les aéroports, devant les préfectures, sur les places, aux péages des autoroutes etc. ne sont que 30.500.
J’ai des doutes… pic.twitter.com/ARpOTld1TA

— Bahar Kimyongur (@Kimyongur) December 1, 2018

#GiletsJaunes #1erDécembre
Live #PQR⤵️@lamontagne_fr #Clermont➡️https://t.co/DX5SRhhu98@OuestFrance #Rennes➡️https://t.co/MWAi9lLFC8@laprovence #Marseille➡️ https://t.co/IVHRaSeW7S @ladepechedumidi #Toulouse➡️ https://t.co/npNDx8qjZF@Le_Progres #Lyon➡️https://t.co/8GKyBohAeY pic.twitter.com/M35tC6ZO22

— France Bédos (@FranceBedos) December 1, 2018

Pendant que les journalistes parisiens ne s’intéressent qu’à quelques débordements parisiens ils ne disent rien sur les centaines de milliers de #GiletsJaunes qui manifestent pacifiquement partout ailleurs en France à Caen, Foix, Arles, Amiens, Marseille, Saint-Nazaire,Vienne… pic.twitter.com/D7CWQ9B27d

— Nikola Mirkovic (@1NikolaMirkovic) December 1, 2018

#GiletsJaunes #France
Live #PQR⤵️@lavoixdunord #Lille➡️https://t.co/WSETNxsHDu@Nice_Matin➡️https://t.co/n0wcomvy4k@Midilibre #Montpellier➡️https://t.co/C9To3arexO@sudouest #Bordeaux➡️https://t.co/uSyawcMlF9@dnatweets #Strasbourg➡️https://t.co/Q6T4Uo5Ku0 pic.twitter.com/jBFmvRFQFZ

— France Bédos (@FranceBedos) December 1, 2018