Ten thousand people marched in Paris twice in four days. "Left wing" French Federation of Trade Unions joined hands with yellow vest for the first time.
[Text/Observer Network Shine Wong]
On February 5, local time, under the call of the left-wing trade union "CGT", the French "Yellow Vest" and the trade union joined hands for the first time to hold a national demonstration.
This is also the second time in four days that Paris, the capital of France, has encountered a demonstration of 10,000 people. French officials sought to strengthen control and passed the relevant bill on anti-violent demonstrations in the National Assembly on the same day.
The "yellow vest" in the parade and the "red vest" representing the French Federation of Trade Unions set off each other brightly, as if to light up a "warning light" for French President Macron.
According to France 24, the demonstration on the 5th was organized by the French Federation of Trade Unions, which called on the people to strike, and the public sectors such as transportation, education and postal services were affected to varying degrees. The Federation of Trade Unions said that 30,000 people took to the streets of Paris; The French police said that 18,000 people in Paris took to the streets to demonstrate.
	
	The French "yellow vest" and the trade union held a national demonstration for the first time, with a huge momentum @ vision china.
 
The French Federation of Trade Unions is one of the two largest trade union unions in the country. Founded in September 1895, it belongs to the left, with about 700,000 trade union members. In the report, French TV 24 called it "the Communist-backed CGT union".
It is worth noting that the "yellow vest" movement has always been skeptical about the trade unions in France and has always kept a certain distance from the trade unions in France. On the 5th, it was the first time that the "Yellow Vest" joined hands with the French Federation of Trade Unions to hold a demonstration and protest.
"We have no difference except the color of the vest."
	 
 
The marchers held high trade union signs and left-wing slogans @ vision china.
The March and strike on the 5th led to the suspension of many public services, including the landmark Eiffel Tower in Paris. Philippe Martinez, secretary-general of the French Federation of Trade Unions, said: "This is a successful day and the beginning of success."
The protesters’ demands include higher wages, tax fairness, opposition to the government’s reform of high schools, and opposition to the government’s plan to raise tuition fees for foreign college students.
The French Federation of Trade Unions and the "Yellow Vest" do have many common demands. For example, they both care about the purchasing power of ordinary people, think that the existing tax system is unfair, and are dissatisfied with the "national debate" being held in Macron. Martinez said: "We have the same unhappiness. I can’t see the difference between us except the color of the vest."
The intention of the French Federation of Trade Unions to cooperate with the "yellow vest" can be traced back to mid-December, when Martinez publicly said: "The best way to protest is to strike. We should take various forms and strike everywhere."However, the" yellow vest "has been vigilant about this and did not respond before February 5.
On the 5th, the French Federation of Trade Unions dispatched security personnel to keep the parade orderly. Almost all the trade union organizations in the Greater Paris area have been dispatched, and many people are distributing leaflets along the way. There are also some elderly trade union demonstrators humming the Internationale.
The parade set off from the Paris city government and went to Place de la Concorde. The police are on strict alert in Concorde Square to prevent demonstrators from going outside Concorde Square. Many shops were temporarily closed in the streets where the demonstrations passed.
When tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Concorde Square one after another, some demonstrators clashed with the police, and the police kept throwing tear gas. Demonstrators from trade unions quickly evacuated from the scene. In the end, only a small number of demonstrators remained in Place de la Concorde.
	 
Some demonstrators clashed with the police, and the police kept throwing tear gas @ vision china
French National Assembly Passes "Anti-Violence Bill"
The demonstration in Paris on the 5th was the second demonstration of 10,000 people in four days. French officials sought to strengthen control. On the same day, the French National Assembly passed the "Anti-Violence Act" aimed at preventing violence in the parade and punishing the perpetrators.
The bill was passed in the National Assembly with 387 votes in favor, 92 votes against and 74 abstentions. Since November last year, the French "Yellow Vest" movement has continued to ferment, violent smashing incidents have occurred frequently, and violent clashes have occurred between demonstrators and police in several cities in France. In this context, the bill previously proposed by French Republican lawmakers has received more attention.
The bill gives the police the power to search luggage, backpacks and vehicles at the parade site and surrounding areas, and allows the provincial government to prohibit some people from participating in demonstrations on the premise that "there are sufficient reasons to believe that their actions pose a serious threat to public safety".
The bill also stipulates that acts of "deliberately covering the face in whole or in part and attempting not to be recognized after disrupting public order" in demonstrations will face up to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros (about 115,000 yuan).
The bill will be submitted to the French Senate for consideration on March 12.
	 
@ vision china
The "yellow vest" camp announced the formation of a campaign team.
The French government is trying to use a two-month "national debate" (January 15th to March 15th) to "turn anger into a solution", but it seems that it has not achieved results. On February 3rd and 4th, it was the 13th consecutive weekend that "yellow vest" protesters held demonstrations.
The latest news shows that the "yellow vest" has taken action both tactically and strategically: tactically, the general strike on February 5 is one of them. In addition, the "Yellow Vest" movement also launched a 24-hour street protest mode, and at the same time used its online platform to compete with government websites for online resources, with the aim of consuming police force, countering the government’s indifference to its demands and gaining a sense of existence.
Strategically, "Yellow Vest" has decided to form an independent campaign team of 79 people to participate in the European Parliament election in May this year and March into European politics.
On January 23rd, the "Yellow Vest" campaign team "Citizen Initiative Alliance" (RIC) announced the first batch of 10 people, including drivers, civil servants, small business owners, lawyers and housewives. The remaining candidates are expected to be confirmed in mid-February.
Zhou Qiujun, a researcher at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Research Institute of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said that the "national debate" failed to meet the needs of the "yellow vest", and the opening of night protests and the holding of a national strike all indicated that they wanted more; The participation in the European Parliament election means that the appeal of the "yellow vest" has shifted from improving purchasing power to political participation, and it wants to transform from a street movement of stragglers to a regular army, and advocate the appeal and strive for rights and interests in the form of party politics.
	 
@ vision china
Leaked video: French police talk about shooting at "yellow vest"
The anger of the "yellow vest" has not been calmed down, and a video of the French police was leaked, which made this anger "more and more prosperous". According to the "Russia Today" RT News Network, the police in Toulouse, France, talked about the plan to "shoot" the protesters in this video.
This video was recorded on January 12, when the "yellow vest" held a protest March in the street. France 3 said that the police were watching the intense confrontation surveillance video between the Toulouse street police and the "yellow vest" in the command room that day. There was no police figure in the leaked video, only the monitoring picture in the command room was taken. But when the conflict turns violent, you can hear the police say, "What a bunch of bastards!" " "Damn it!"
After this video was posted on Twitter by Vigi, a French police union, it was severely criticized by netizens. Gallon County in Toulouse issued a statement saying that the protests on the police screen were "rare acts of violence", which triggered "spontaneous comments" from the police. At present, the police have begun to investigate the illegal capture of images and sounds in the command center.
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