On Tuesday 28th March campaigners against the CPE employment contract in France claimed that nearly three million people joined in strikes and hundreds of demonstrations across the country.
Transport infrastructure including airports were also hit as were banks, schools and colleges, while all newspapers went unprinted for the day.
This was just the latest massive show of force in a month long student led campaign which has seen regular protests, occupations and direct action spreading across the country.
Transport infrastructure including airports were also hit as were banks, schools and colleges, while all newspapers went unprinted for the day.
This was just the latest massive show of force in a month long student led campaign which has seen regular protests, occupations and direct action spreading across the country.
demo map - france 28th march 06
Civil servants, including teachers, hospital staff and employees at utilities such as Gaz de France SA and Electricite de France SA, staged walkouts. National newspapers weren't published because of strikes at printing presses.
The biggest protest yesterday was in Paris, and predictably it ended in confrontation with riot police as was seen during the last student day of action on Thursday 23rd March and on the massive union backed day of action on Saturday 18th March (and indeed on many other days over the last month). Place de la Nation
saw several hours of scattered fighting with the police sending snatch-squad after snatch-squad into the crowd.
A confused situation emerged as plain clothes police, trade union security, youths from the outer estates, other demonstrators and riot police clashed throughout the afternoon. Many more police than is usual in france are now carrying videos during the protests.
Police later used gas, cs spray and water cannon against a peaceful sit down protest before clearing the square. Street fighting was reported in the surrounding streets as well, and in total hundreds of people were arrested in paris, and hundreds more in the rest of france bringing the total arrests towards 800. 50 people were reported injured.
Clashes with police were also reported in Rennes, Toulouse, Lille, Grenoble, Vannes and Brest.
The political climate is now changing after the month of unrest and the repeated mass street protests with the governemnt coming under increasing presure to scrap the CPE employment law.
Judges at France's highest court are now to rule on the opposition Socialist party's assertion that the CPE isunconstitutional. De Villepin's government is awaiting the decision before deciding on how to proceed.
Student groups have pledged not to negotiate, but to continue the occupations and mass protests.
For a roundup of reports on the day see:
http://libcom.org/blog/largest-demonstrations-yet/03/28/2006 Pics:
Paris
http://www.phototheque.org/183.html http://www.libcom.org/gallery/v/news/france-cpe/paris2803-2/?g2_GALLERYSID=9e85040e5b108f22db285ed6586383ed http://www.libcom.org/gallery/v/news/france-cpe/paris2803italie/?g2_GALLERYSID=9e85040e5b108f22db285ed6586383ed Bordeaux
http://www.libcom.org/gallery/v/news/france-cpe/bordeaux2803/?g2_GALLERYSID=9e85040e5b108f22db285ed6586383ed Toulouse
http://www.libcom.org/gallery/d/3086-4/toulouse+28th+March.jpg?g2_GALLERYSID=9e85040e5b108f22db285ed6586383ed For more check out the french indymedia sites:
http://paris.indymedia.org http://lille.indymedia.org http://toulouse.indymedia.org http://marseille.indymedia.org http://liege.indymedia.org http://auvergne-indymedia.org http://grenoble.indymedia.org http://nantes.indymedia.org and
http://www.libcom.org/blog 
