French unions join student protests over school conditions
Authorities forecast 20,000 to 40,000 demonstrators in Paris as nationwide action disrupts teaching at hundreds of schools and universities.
French trade unions are joining high school students in a Paris march on Tuesday over school conditions, bringing organised labour into a protest movement that began last month and has spread across the country.
Students have raised concerns about underfunding and overcrowded classrooms. The education ministry and a student union report teaching disrupted at 589 lycées and 32 universities.
Authorities expect between 20,000 and 40,000 people in Paris. The figure is a forecast; the eventual turnout is not yet known.
CGT union head Sophie Binet said members would attend to protect high school students. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s office has called for peaceful gatherings and urged a return to structured, legal and democratic opposition.
France 24 reports clashes with police, injuries and arrests during the demonstrations. The justice ministry says more than 5,000 people have been detained since protests began, 87 per cent of them minors; the report does not state when those totals were compiled.
