Paris shopkeepers brace for more weekend protests
176 views · Published 19 December 2018 · 3:52 · Indexed 24 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(14 Dec 2018) Anticipating a fifth straight weekend of violent protests, France's president on Friday called for calm and the Paris police chief warned that armoured vehicles and thousands of officers will be deployed again in the French capital over the coming days. Shopkeepers on and around Paris's Champs Elysees avenue have uppened security - having protective wooden panels installed over doors and windows. Protective panels were attached to bank windows and cash machines - following vandalism during last weeks' protests. On Friday members of the General Confederation of Labour union (CGT) were peacefully demonstrating for workers' rights in the capital. CGT Union leader Phillipe Martinez defended the recent strikes, stressing it was the most effective way to force employers to pay fair wages. The demonstrations began Nov. 17 against a rise in gas taxes but have morphed into an expression of rage against France's high taxes and a sense that President Emmanuel Macron's government does not care about French workers. Despite calls from authorities urging protesters - who wear the fluorescent safety vests that France requires drivers to keep in their cars - to stop their violence demonstrations, the movement rocking the country since mid-November has showed no signs of abating. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner earlier on Friday urged protesters to express themselves peacefully after a police shootout on Thursday ended a two-day manhunt for a man suspected of killing four people near a Christmas market in Strasbourg. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3274ff4c99ef35fbda45ca18d4db8ef9
