STORY: Demonstration against austerity staged throughout France
DATELINE: Oct. 14, 2023
LENGTH: 00:04:07
LOCATION: Paris
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the protest
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (French): OLIVIER, Former retirement editor
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (French): PASCAL, Airbus IT developer

STORYLINE:

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) staged a one-day strike across France on Friday to protest against austerity.

Around 150,000 people took part in the demonstration, with around 15,000 in the capital Paris.

SOUNDBITE 1 (French): OLIVIER, Former editor
"I think the social system should be changed. We have to fight for it. We can't just sit back and wait. We can only rely on ourselves. They're building cannons with billions of euros, but there's no money for hospitals. All the propaganda is to get us used to it. To prepare people for future wars, especially for the younger generation."

SOUNDBITE 2 (French): PASCAL, Airbus IT developer
"The deep crisis in France is the social crisis, with the current high inflation, which is linked to the war. We demand higher salaries, higher pensions. There is also gender equality, which is very unequal now. There's also the state of healthcare. Public services are being provided less and less, public services have been cut a lot by the Macron government. That's the main reason why we are here. Also because a lot of European unions have come here as well, Belgian unions and so on. European societies should be given more opportunities, not just freedom on an economic level."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Paris.
(XHTV)