French unemployed protest (fwd)

[Sid Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

> Date: Thu, 15 Jan 98 01:35:41 UT
> From: "Paul Burns" <PaulBB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: French unemployed protest
>
> PARIS (Reuters)-Several hundred jobless protesters broke into a Paris
> financial market on Tuesday, flinging papers about and lighting a small fire
> outside to dramatize their call for higher unemployment benefits.
> The protesters, some of them masked, took over the main hall of the Bourse du
> Commerce commodity futures market and ransacked offices upstairs before
> leaving of their own accord after talks with French officials.
> Trading at the domed exchange was unaffected by the protest, the latest in a
> series of seizures of public buildings by militant unemployed who say the
> Socialist-led government is not doing enough to help them.
> The protesters spray-painted slogans on the walls such as "Death To
> Speculators" and "Give Us Some Money To Live!"
> Earlier on Tuesday, several thousand protesters marched through Paris to the
> CNPF employers' association headquarters to press their campaign for work.
> Police estimated the group at the Bourse du Commerce to be about 800
> protesters, but market officials spoke only of 300.
> "These people invaded the Bourse du Commerce and sacked and pillaged the
> interior violently, after which people working in the building were forced to
> leave the premises under threat," a police communique said.
> "The main door and some windows upstairs were broken, but we can't say yet how
> much damage was done to the offices," said Jean-Christian Sema, legal and
> administrative affairs director for the Bourse du Commerce.
> "We have seen the same thing before with the farmers when they were protesting
> about cuts in subsidies, "a futures exchange official said.  Doors to ground
> floor futures pits were blocked to prevent disruption to the market.
> Riot police equipped with helmets, shields and tear gas rushed to the scene to
> deal with the protest, but did not enter the building in the Les Halles
> quarter.
> Leaflets from jobless groups and office stationery from trading companies
> littered the floor of the exchange after the protesters left.
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