France: Exhausted, Overworked Police Unions Ready for Action

Local Editor

Some fed-up French police unions are ready to get in on the action, complaining of low pay, unpaid overtime and unacceptable working conditions after weeks of anti-government Yellow Vest protests still roiling across the country.

French police union representative Loic Travers told RT that when some officers are not in uniform “they become Yellow Vests” because they identify with the protesters’ cause.

“We are middle class, or even lower, because of our salaries, our origin. That’s why some colleagues feel that they are Yellow Vests. The cause of the Yellow Vests really resonate with the police,” Travers said.

According to French “The Local,” the Alliance Police Nationale called for a “black day for the police” on December 19 and called the police protest “Act 1” of police action.

In an open letter to French lawmakers on Monday, Denis Jacob, the spokesman for national police union Alternative Police, said that police "risk their lives" daily to maintain public order and safety, but are now at a “breaking point” and feeling that “they too are affected by the demands of the Yellow Vests.” Police officers are feeling “exhaustion, weariness and deep anger,” the letter said.

The last thing that the French government would want as social unrest continues across France is for the police to begin striking in large numbers. Police unions have been in discussions with the French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner since Tuesday.

France has been rocked by the Yellow Vest protests since mid-November when demonstrators demanded the reversal of planned fuel tax hikes, eventually forcing French President Emmanuel Macron’s government to back down and scrap the plan.

The protests then morphed into a wider anti-government movement against other economic policies and rising costs of living.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team