5 November strike: 575,000 protesters according to the Interior Ministry, 1.6 million according to the CGT

Update of 6 November at 11.24am. The gap is huge. The Interior Ministry counted 575,000 protesters across France, including 65,000 in Paris, in 193 marches. The CGT union claims nearly 1.6 million, including 350,000 in Paris, according to franceinfo. The union speaks of a new milestone in the mobilisation. On 17 October, estimates ranged from 550,000 to 800,000 participants, franceinfo recalls.

The gaps are mirrored in the regions. In Lyon, the prefecture counted 30,500 participants at the peak of the mobilisation and the inter-union alliance 55,000. In Marseille, the police prefecture counted 14,000 and the CGT 150,000, according to ICI.

448 arrests and 53 injured among the security forces

At 6pm, the Interior Ministry gave a provisional tally of 448 arrests, 53 members of the security forces injured and 86 call-outs for fires. These figures have yet to be consolidated, and we have not found a more recent national tally. The ministry considers that the declared marches went off broadly well, franceinfo reports.

In Paris, the march left Place de la République at 2pm. The police prefecture reported damage caused by hooded individuals along the route, and a franceinfo journalist saw charges by the security forces at Place de la Nation at the end of the demonstration.

In Lyon, the Rhône prefecture reported in its provisional tally 40 injured, including 34 members of the security forces and 6 protesters, 24 arrests and 5 shops damaged.

Several incidents were reported elsewhere. In La Courneuve, a 16-year-old high-school student was injured with a bladed weapon during the blockade of his school, ICI reports. In Orléans, an Education Ministry official was injured by a firework mortar. Security forces were targeted with projectiles in Rennes and Pau. In Strasbourg, the prefect is to refer the matter to the courts after a giant effigy of a CRS riot police officer was set on fire. The high school in Tournefeuille, near Toulouse, was set alight in the morning, with no one injured according to the prefecture.

The social movement in figures

The Education Ministry counts around 16% of teachers on strike: 19% in primary schools and 13.5% in secondary schools. The SNES-FSU union claims 52% in collèges and lycées (lower and upper secondary schools). The ministry counted 81 high schools blockaded at 10am, while the Union syndicale lycéenne, a high-school students' union, claims more than 1,000 brought to a standstill.

In the civil service, the rates recorded at midday were 9.89% for central government, 4.60% for local government and 3.93% for the public hospital service, according to franceinfo. We have not found an overall strike rate at SNCF. Transport details are here.

Lecornu calls a social conference

The government responded in the evening. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will bring unions and employers together on Monday 9 November at Matignon to provide answers on purchasing power and wages. He has asked Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou to finalise the ongoing consultations by Sunday. Franceinfo points out that his room for manoeuvre is limited.

Positions remain far apart: the CGT is demanding a 10% pay rise, and employers respond that companies cannot grant large increases, according to ICI.

What next?

We have not found a new date for further mobilisation at this time. What happens next will play out first at Matignon on Monday. The tally of arrests and injuries has yet to be consolidated.