PARIS (Dispatches) – “Yellow Vests” activists took to the streets on Saturday to rally against social and economic injustice as well as mandatory COVID-19 passes.
On 12 July, French President Macron announced a series of new restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19. Starting in August, French restaurants, shopping centers, airplanes, and long-distance trains require a special pass indicating that a person has either been vaccinated or has a negative test result for COVID-19.
The move caused widespread consternation in French society, with protests against the measure rocking the country every other Saturday since mid-July.
The so-called “Yellow Vests” movement gained momentum in 2018, after demonstrators held a series of rallies against fuel tax hikes. In the years since, the group has grown into a large-scale movement, with demonstrations frequently resulting in violence between activists and the police.
Earlier this month, France’s unions called a nationwide strike with protests taking place in over 200 cities and towns.
Unions and workers accuse politicians and bosses of manipulating the corona crisis in order to ram through more far-right economic austerity policies.
Deeply unpopular cuts to unemployment insurance go into effect this week despite the ongoing economic uncertainty.
A decade of failed austerity followed by the unprecedented corona recession has given France’s lower- and middle-classes inflation, energy prices, intense corona-related restrictions on personal freedom, unemployment and soaring inequality.