Police pushed back protesters in Paris on Thursday as students and workers joined a nationwide strike demanding higher pay, more education funding and action over rising living costs.
Footage shows officers confronting and pushing demonstrators as protesters chant and barricade the street with rubbish bins, with some climbing onto them.
Officers then advance to disperse the crowd, dragging bins and bicycles off the road before sealing off the area.
The union-led strike called for higher wages and pensions, stronger public services and changes to government spending priorities. The CGT listed 244 demonstrations across France, with disruption expected in schools and rail services.
The mobilisation followed Tuesday’s protests in Paris’s Latin Quarter, where hundreds gathered after police banned a proposed march from the Pantheon to the headquarters of employers’ organisation Medef. The Higher Education Ministry reported disruption at 51 of 184 higher education institutions that day.
Students have continued protesting despite education measures announced by the government on October 26. These include replacing Parcoursup in 2028, expanding higher education places and cancelling planned secondary teaching job cuts in the 2027 budget.
Classes in the first year of upper secondary school will be capped at 28 pupils in the least advantaged half of lycees from September 2027, before the limit extends to all lycees in 2028.
Source: Viory
