The Bloquons Tout (Block Everything) movement emerged as a viral
phenomenon on the Internet and on various social networks in mid-2025.It was a result of the austerity measures announced by then Prime
Minister François Bayrou. These included the abolition of two national
holidays, a pensions freeze, and massive cuts to healthcare. The slogan
"Boycott, disobedience and solidarity" (Boycott, désobéissance et
solidarité) was advanced by about a dozen people on social media. They
called for a total shutdown of France on September 10th, and people were
encouraged to not go to work on that day, avoid road use, not shop at
the big chains, keep their children at home, and occupy symbolic
locations. It was a movement like the previous Gilets Jaunes (Yellow
Vests) but far more openly radical, and involving a younger generation.
The government responded by saying this was a tiny minority movement,
not able to deliver on its promises to mobilise. As the traction
developed for this movement, the interior minister Bruno Retailleau was
forced to make the usual old tired announcement on September 9th that it
was a movement led by left groups, intent on violent action.
If September 10th wasn't a complete success, failing to achieve its aim
of paralysing France, it still mobilised hundreds of thousands of
protestors. It indicated widespread social anger, and the willingness of
young people to take part. This was despite severe police repression on
the day, with 80,000 police and gendarmes mobilised nationally. The
State forces used mass arrests (540 in total), rubber bullets, gas,
drone surveillance, and the deployment of many armoured vehicles.
Despite this, hundreds of blockades took place. Whilst often quickly
broken up, they turned into wildcat demonstrations and spread to other
areas. By busting up the blockades, the police inadvertently
strengthened picket lines. At Nantes, 150 protestors reinforced the
picket line at Valo'Loire incinerator, and at the Amazon site at
Bretigny sur Loire, where a strike was taking place, there was a similar
reinforcement. It was the same at Airbus in Toulouse, at the Feyzin
refinery near Lyon, at Le Havre, at the Montpellier railway picket, the
Eugène Delacroix high school in Drancy, and at the Tenon hospital in
Paris, which was joined by students from the Voltaire high school. At
the Gare du Nord in Paris, despite a huge police presence, rail workers,
workers from different sectors, and young people took part in a mass
general assembly.
It wasn't just the big cities where actions took place. Many small towns
saw leafletting, blockades around roundabouts, commercial areas, or
expressways. The government was forced to admit that 175,000 had taken
part in the mobilisations, although this is a much smaller figure than
counted by various organisations, with the CGT union reckoning on
250,000 participants.
In addition , several general assemblies took place at various high
schools and universities, and this was before the start of the academic
year. 500 students at Rennes, 250 at Paul Valéry, 300 at Jussieu, 200 at
Paris-Cité, all in Paris, and 250 at Mirail in Toulouse. 150 high
schools were blockaded. However, only 5% of teachers came out on strike.
Several tens of thousands marched in Marseille and 50,000 in Toulouse,
including 5,000 in the youth procession, more than 10,000 in Lyon and
Bordeaux, 10,000 in Rennes, 6,000 in Chambéry, 4,000 in Amiens and
2,000 in Aix-en-Provence. In Paris, there was no single demonstration,
with thousands massing at Place de la République (several thousand),
Place du Châtelet ( 10,000) and Place des Fêtes (more than 10,000). "The
best part was there, in what remains one of the very last authentically
working-class neighbourhoods in Paris. More than 10,000 people. Festive
and lively music. The speeches were lost in the hubbub of a very young,
diverse and joyful crowd, undoubtedly more politicised." (report from a
group of the Federation Anarchiste).
However, in some places there were much smaller mobilisations, as at
Boulogne sur Mer where only 150 turned out.
In addition to blockades of educational establishments and at
roundabouts, there were road disruptions with several 'drive slow'
operations on motorways, as at Rennes, Nantes, on the A10 highway near
Poitiers South, on the A9 at Aix-en-Provence, on the Toulouse beltway,
on the A1 near Lille. In addition, peasants from the Confédération
Paysanne agricultural union took part in blockades with their tractors
in blockades, including the A20 highway, Chambéry, Bourges, and Albi.
However, another agricultural union, the FNSEA, failed to take part in
the mobilisation, offering the excuse that that grape harvests were
still underway, herds were on their summer pastures, maize and beet
crops were being gathered, and cereal sowing had begun. Instead, it said
it was mobilising for a day of action on September 25th. The CGT union
leadership failed to mobilise its members for the day, repeating its
behaviour in May 1968. In some places, veterans of the Gilets Jaunes
movement appeared, as at Abbeville where one interviewee said that he
was taking out his yellow vest again because "nothing had changed".
It remains to be seen whether the tempo of the mobilisations will
continue and intensify. In some ways the actions were a dress rehearsal
for September 18th, when the main unions are calling for mass strikes.
What is encouraging about the movement of Bloquons Tout are the large
numbers of young people involved, and its decentralised nature, enabling
it to mobilise in small towns and villages.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2025/09/15/some-notes-on-the-block-everything-actions-on-september-10th-in-france/
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