"The May Day mobilization must be as massive as possible... Citizens, beyond the unions, must take to the streets so that social and environmental demands are made loud and clear," said the secretary. General of the CGT Philippe Martinez in Le Parisien on Saturday.

On France Inter, Mr. Martinez noted that it was a "fairly exceptional meeting, a week after the election of the President of the Republic".

"There have to be people," he insisted.

Two hundred and fifty-five assembly points are planned in the country, according to CGT Confederal Secretary Céline Verzeletti, "twenty more" than last year.

The union leader expects a good mobilization, even if this May 1st falls on a Sunday and during school holidays for zones A and C.

The Parisian demonstration will leave at 2:30 p.m. from Place de la République, heading for Place de la Nation.

Many left-wing political figures are expected, first and foremost Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI).

The national secretary of EELV Julien Bayou should also parade in the capital, as well, no doubt, as his PS counterpart Olivier Faure.

The PCF presidential candidate, Fabien Roussel, will be in Lille.

In the context of difficult negotiations to reach an agreement of all the left in view of the legislative elections, Mr. Bayou mentioned on Friday the possibility for the left to march under a "common banner", "in support of the unions".

But Mr. Mélenchon has somewhat showered these ardor in the JDD on Saturday: "The family photo of May 1 is not the subject! The subject is the content of the social program that we will apply".

In 2021, the organizers had claimed more than 170,000 demonstrators, including 25,000 in Paris.

The Ministry of the Interior had meanwhile reported 106,650 demonstrators in France, including 17,000 in the capital.

The pension reform in the line of sight

At the forefront of the demands of the CGT-Unsa-FSU-Solidaires inter-union, joined by the student and high school organizations Unef, VL, MNL and FIDL, "the questions of wages, public services, social protection and transition environmentally friendly,” according to an April 7 statement.

A demonstrator brandishes a puppet representing French President Emmanuel Macron during the May Day 2021 demonstrations in Paris Alain JOCARD AFP

Unlike last year, the Force Ouvrière confederation did not sign this national appeal.

On the other hand, the Île-de-France Regional Union FO has co-signed a joint leaflet with these organizations and the secretary general of FO Yves Veyrier will participate in the press briefing before the Paris demonstration.

In the morning, Mr. Veyrier will go as usual to pay homage to the fighters of the Commune, in front of the Federated Wall at the Père-Lachaise cemetery.

The CFDT, the leading union in France, is unsurprisingly standing apart, by organizing for its part a "May 1st committed to the climate".

In the crosshairs of trade unions, pension reform, while President Emmanuel Macron has made the decline in the legal age of departure to 64 and then 65 a cardinal point of his program.

Their concern is all the more acute since the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire did not rule out Monday using the weapon of 49-3 to have the reform adopted.

Associations and NGOs mobilized on environmental issues will also be involved, at the call of the group Never again.

The authorities will also be attentive to calls from the ultra-left and the ultra-right, while the latest demonstrations on May 1 have been marred by incidents.

Last year, union activists and vehicles were targeted at Place de la Nation.

This year, the police expect in Paris some 300 activists and "up to a thousand yellow vests".

© 2022 AFP