They spent a good two hours passing the microphone around, throwing out ideas and demands, and sharing their anger at the government, the powerful and the money sloshing around at the top of society that never trickles down to the “little people”.
Sitting on steps outside the Corum, a conference hall in the southern French city of Montpellier on Tuesday, some 200 people took part in a general assembly ahead of a planned September 10th day of action. This protest, with its central plea for supporters to “block everything” in the country, started online after the announcement in mid-July of prime minister François Bayrou’s proposed 2026 budget austerity measures. At the end of this leaderless assembly, in which one volunteer indicated whose turn it was to speak while two others took notes, a plan was agreed by a show of hands: to block the main roads at dawn on September 10th, followed by a march at 11am through the city's streets.
Enlargement : Illustration 1
The day before this general assembly, the prime minister had announced he would stake his government’s survival in a vote of confidence at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly on September 8th. François Bayrou’s chances of staying in power are slim, with both the Socialist Party (PS) - the only party of the Left that might have backed him or abstained - and the far-right Rassemblement National RN already saying they will vote against his government.
Yet the looming collapse of the current administration in no way dampened the zeal of those at the Montpellier gathering. “Does everyone agree to carry on despite the Bayrou circus?” asked Daniel. He is a former member of the 'Gilets jaunes' or 'Yellow Vest' protest movement that rocked France in late 2018 and 2019, and was a prominent figure at the city's Près-d’Arènes roundabout, a centre of those protests locally at the time. “Yes! Yes!” the assembly roared back. It was a mixed crowd: former senior figures from the 'Yellow Vest' movement, trade unionists (mainly from the Sud trade union) from the chemical, transport, education and local government sectors, as well as students, green and pro-Palestine campaigners, and many more who simply described themselves as “ordinary” citizens.
“I represent those not in unions, who aren't very politicised, and I mix with people who are even less so,” said a young woman, a specialist assistant in nursery schools. Her voice trembling a little, she said she backed staging the protest march on September 10th, a form of action that had been contested by some. “Yes, it’s the same old story, the lefties grilling sausages,” she continued more confidently, referring to the tradition of protest marches in France. “But it's good to be together and to have the same demands!”
Demands and committees
This issue of people's demands kept coming up as each individual had their say, with participants aware of François Bayrou’s press conference the day before and his gamble on a confidence vote. “His ‘withdrawal’ has changed the game,” conceded Daniel, miming quotation marks. “It’s clear we’ll need to make some changes.” The issues of inequality, social injustice and the government’s plan to raise spending on weapons while pushing austerity were all raised. “They're ruining us, we must ruin them too!” cried one woman, urging people to block shopping centres on the day.
This was the fourth such general assembly in Montpellier since the start of August. The first was launched by 'Yellow Vest' veterans. “We started with 20 and tonight there are more than 200 of us,” Daniel told Mediapart with pride. He hopes that through this September 10th movement “angry people will come together and show their unhappiness”. A former photographer, he retired at 68 and lives on a “very small pension”. He loathes the government whose approach, he complains, is to “help the rich at the expense of the poor”.
As the evening wore on, tasks were shared out. Committees were set up or grew in size: one for communications, another for leaflets, a third for the people’s canteen. The idea of a strike fund was floated. So, too, was the idea of basing their organisational structure on the city's neighbourhoods. “We need a sign of unity, like an armband,” suggested one participant. “A yellow vest?” laughed the gathering. “For me, this is the distinctive sign!” shouted a woman, waving her keffiyeh, the garment that has become the emblem of Palestine.
Watch out we don't get overtaken by the far-right. They're violent, they're dangerous, and they vote with the bourgeoisie.
“What matters is that we bring our battles together!” said a woman, introducing herself as both a former “Yellow Vest” and a trade unionist. Support for Palestine, the 'Grève féministe' or feminist strike – the movement supporting women's equality and rights - and the green cause were all issues raised in turn during the meeting. “We also need to go and see people in working-class districts, call on them to show their anger!” suggested a man who called himself a “simple citizen”. Looking out at the mainly white gathering, he added to applause: “Here, most of us are white... But it's not just the whites who suffer in society!”
The issue of the far-right's presence in the protest was raised several times. “They used to say the ‘Yellow Vests’ were far-right and we still hear that now,” said a woman wearing a yellow gilet. “I don’t think that’s true and to be honest I don’t care. What matters is that this movement comes from the grass roots.” A member of the Sud trade union warned the crowd: “Right now we’re fine, we’re among lefties! But watch out we don't get overtaken by the far-right. They're violent, they're dangerous, and they vote with the bourgeoisie!”
Several other trade unionists spoke. “The union is not an end in itself but it is a tool, and we're here to give notice of strikes!” said one. “We’ll get the job done and we’ll be there,” shouted another, a member of the Sud-Rail union which has already given notice of strike action for September 10th.
A student, calling himself a “free spirit, and not in a union”, frowned. “We're too used to the standard forms of protest,” he said. “We need to tell ourselves that this time it will be different. And that this time, it’s going to work.”
When asked about this at the end of the general assembly, retired photographer Daniel agreed. “I hope we can reproduce some of the ‘Yellow Vest’ approach and the beauty of that movement, by taking a different path,” he said. But he admitted he was pessimistic. “I have doubts about the outcome of our actions,” he conceded. “I'm acting without hope but I have to act because I don't have any other solution .”
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- The original French version of this text can be found here.
English version by Michael Streeter