Protests - Part 22

Loi Travail, France, 2016-2017

In 2016, the French government passed a labor law commonly known as the loi travail.  The law generated widespread protests across the country.  There were no mass nude protests, but there were two unashamed males who joined protests in two different cities, and of course, each of them got a lot of publicity.  Above is a guy at a protest in the city of Caen, France on May 16, 2016.

In some places, things got tense between the protesters and the police.  The guy in Caen said he got naked to help calm things down between the two sides, because "What could be less threatening than a naked man?"

Here he is trying to defuse tensions.  The loi travail split the French left wing; some favored it and some bitterly opposed it.  On the one hand, it allowed workers to transfer any untaken days off between employers, and it offered training and internships to help young people without qualifications or experience.

But on the other hand, it made it easier for companies to lay off employees and to reduce overtime payments to workers.  It was vigorously opposed by French unions.  In this video clip, our hero, apparently having done his bit to defuse tensions, disappears into the crowd and gets a pat on the back.

Another protest was held in Paris on Sept. 12, 2017.  This time the unashamed male was playing a guitar. 

Above is a very short clip of him among the protesters.

Next, we see him strolling down the street to the acclamation of the spectators.

Finally, here's a clip of him singing right in front of the police.  The words he's singing translate as:

        We won't give up

        We won't give up

        We won't give up

        We won't let down the undocumented

        We won't let the police do anything

        We won't give up

        We won't give up

(Thanks to Laurent for the translation.  Check out his blog Workmen and Rednecks.)