Most of the protesters have jobs...[and] say their low incomes mean they cannot make ends meet at the end of the month. The movement is predominantly against a tax system perceived as unfair and unjust...

From all corners of the country, French protesters— the vast majority of them men—came by the thousands in trains, buses and cars

The Yellow vests movement (French: Mouvement des gilets jaunes), also referred to as the yellow jacket movement, is a protest movement that started online in May 2018 and led to demonstrations that began in France on Saturday, 17 November 2018.

Quotes

• Protesters have largely come from peripheral towns, cities, and rural areas across France and include many women and single mothers. Most of the protesters have jobs, including as secretaries, IT workers, factory workers, delivery workers, and care workers. All say their low incomes mean they cannot make ends meet at the end of the month. The movement is predominantly against a tax system perceived as unfair and unjust, but there are numerous grievances and differences of opinion. Most want to scrap the fuel taxes, hold a review of the tax system, raise the minimum wage, and roll back Macron's tax cuts for the wealthy and his pro-business economic program.
  • Who are the gilets jaunes and what do they want? The Guardian (7 December 2018)

• From all corners of the country, French protesters— the vast majority of them men—came by the thousands in trains, buses and cars. But once together in the capital, the most concrete thing they shared was simply fury.
  Fury at President Emmanuel Macron. At taxes. At jobs that don't pay the bills. At politicians they accuse of stuffing their own pockets. At the elite. At banks. At 'the system.'
  • John Leicester in Paris under siege: Tear gas, fury on the Champs-Elysees, The Associated Press (8 December 2018)]

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