STUDENTS AND YELLOW VESTS PLAN PROTESTS ACROSS FRANCE

Secondary school students, trade unionists and Yellow Vest activists plan to demonstrate across France on Saturday, 17 October. The planned gatherings bring together a school protest movement and groups concerned about high prices and living standards. Some Yellow Vest activists have called on supporters to join the students. Jerome Rodrigues, a prominent Yellow Vest activist, made that appeal in a video released last week. Organisers have yet to establish how many people will take part or whether the groups will demonstrate together nationwide.

Students began protesting in mid-September at a secondary school in Creteil, a suburb of Paris. They raised concerns about deteriorating buildings, overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages. The students also described France’s education system as deeply unequal. The movement has since spread to upper secondary schools across the country, with university students, teachers and trade unions joining it. Yellow Vest activists previously took part in grassroots protests over living costs during Emmanuel Macron’s first presidential term in 2018.

Rodrigues linked the concerns of students with those of workers and retirees in his appeal. “Our paths may differ, but our concerns can converge,” he said. The protests have widened as France faces fiscal pressure and economic stagnation. Authorities have described the unrest since September as among the most violent in decades. They say more than 900 police officers have been injured since the protests began.