France's 2018 Yellow Vest Protests

Published on Dec 11, 2018
After a fourth weekend of violent protest, French president Emmanuel Macron has desperately tried to appease those who say his policies are making them poorer.

In a televised address designed to take the heat out of the largest mass protest to hit France since the student uprising of 1968, Macron said the minimum wage would be raised and taxes on pensioners cut.

The Gilets Jaunes movement, named after the yellow high visibility vests worn by its members, staged demonstrations in most major cities in France over the weekend. More than 1,700 people were arrested. One of the demonstrations took place in the industrial city of Le Mans, southwest of Paris. At its peak, the Le Mans protest involved 300 people.

VICE News spoke to Peter Pilon, a factory worker manning a barricade made from tires and wooden shipping pallets, built to prevent a company that distributes gasoline and diesel from operating.

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After a fourth weekend of violent protest, French president Emmanuel Macron has desperately tried to appease those who say his policies are making them poorer. In a televised address designed to take the heat out of the largest mass protest to hit France since the student uprising of 1968, Macron said the minimum wage would be raised and taxes on pensioners cut.