Normally, Marie-Hélène does not take to the streets. At 67, this former accountant says she is politically engaged, “rather on the left”. In 2019, she supported the yellow vests from afar, performing “some administrative tasks” for the movement from her home. But the demonstrations to fight against social reforms… Very little for her: “Until now, in my opinion, it remained the workhorse of the unions. And then the pension reform changed everything. For the mother of the family, it’s the last straw. “Shopping baskets at 300 euros when there are only two of us with my husband, the price of gasoline, and now retirement at 64… It’s no longer possible,” she breathes. From February and for “one of the first times in her life”, Marie-Hélène therefore decided to march alongside hundreds of other citizens mobilized in Saint-Dizier, a town of 23,000 inhabitants located a few kilometers from his small village in Haute-Marne. For her daughter, who will become “a doctor in a few months and should have the right to enjoy life” once her career is over, her working friends whom she does not see “working for another ten years”, and in the name of ” his personal convictions”, the sexagenarian assures that she will continue, as long as her health allows it, to pound the pavement in the weeks to come.
A feeling of general weariness confirmed by an Ifop survey, carried out exclusively for L’Express from March 8 to 9. By comparing the current situation with the pension reform of 2010, which had already led to a gradual postponement of the legal retirement age to 62, the survey highlights a sharp decline in the acceptability of the French in the face of this type of measurement. Thirteen years ago, 53% of those polled thus considered the pension reform acceptable, compared to 36% in 2023. “At the time, there was the idea of a sacrifice with death in the soul, but justified by the situation”, recalls Jérôme Fourquet, director of the Opinion and business strategies department of Ifop, who recalls a public debate influenced by the financial crisis of 2008: “François Bayrou had also led his 2007 presidential campaign on the theme of safeguarding public finances, the government had succeeded in convincing people of the urgency of plugging the breaches in our pension system… It went better.” A mobilization of yellow vests, inflation and a decade later, this notion of “sacrifice” is no longer enough to convince the French. “This explains the extent of social mobilization today: people have the feeling of a gear that will never stop. That after 64 years, there will be 65 years, 66 years and so immediately”, continues Jérôme Fourquet.
© / Art Press
“General fed up”
In the streets of Saint-Dizier, Marie-Hélène is thus far from being the only one to express her dissatisfaction. According to the CGT, more than 3000 people would have mobilized on March 7 in the sub-prefecture of Haute-Marne. “For a small town like ours, it’s a success!” Rejoices Benjamin Cabartier, secretary general of the local section of the CGT railway workers. On this Tuesday of national strike and during the days that followed, the man is pleased to have met an “impressive number of different profiles” on the ground: professors, railway workers, professionals in the metallurgy and foundries of the corner, but also retirees or a handful of former yellow vests. Not to mention the support of those who do not demonstrate, but support the movement. “The motorists get out of their car, chat, have a coffee with us… They understand the need for these demonstrations”, assures the trade unionist. “There are pensions that people are worried about, of course. But it’s also a general fed up”, he summarizes, citing in turn the rise in the price of energy, gasoline, food products and too low wages: “In fact, the French have the impression that they are forgotten. And that, no matter how hard they work, it continues to be always more complicated for them .”
Contrary to what could be observed in 2010, the fear of too late and too precarious retirement no longer affects only the least well-off categories of the population. In 2023, only 42% of executives and employees in higher intellectual professions consider the reform acceptable, compared to 72% in 2010. the age pyramid and the state of the public accounts, the executives have made their calculations. And realize that it will often be necessary to go up to 66-67 years old: even for them, that’s a lot”, deciphers Jérôme Fourquet . Ditto on the side of private sector employees, who are only 25% to support government reform in 2023 – against 47% in 2010. “They are not ready to make an extra effort, since they consider they have already given a lot “, details the pollster.
“Hate is rising”
More than ever, part of the public is expressing its frustration at what it perceives as social regression. Despite numerous attempts by the majority to convey to the French people the notion of a pension reform that is both “necessary” and respectful of a form of “social justice”, only 26% of those questioned by Ifop in 2023 describe the government as “fair” in its choices – compared to 32% in 2010. “The government has not convinced of the absolute necessity and urgency of its project. The ‘whatever the cost’ of the Covid has been there: part of the public believes that when you look for billions, you can find them otherwise”, analyzes Jérôme Fourquet. “At a time when distrust of politicians is extremely strong, presenting this reform as ‘just’ was perhaps not the best decision”, comments François Cornut-Gentille, former mayor of Les Républicains de Saint -Dizier. After leading his town for more than thirty years, the man can only note the discouragement of his former constituents in the face of the political sphere. “They don’t find themselves in any party, they don’t feel represented… So many vote for the National Rally, as a symbol of a rejection of more traditional parties and the elites.”
During the 2022 legislative elections, the candidate RN Laurence Robert-Dehault was thus elected deputy for the 2nd constituency of Haute-Marne with 51.70% of the votes, dethroning at the same time François Cornut-Gentille – who had held this position since 1993 A few months earlier, Marine Le Pen had won 54% of the votes in Saint-Dizier in the second round of the presidential election. “For me, it was anything but Macron”, justifies Marie-Hélène, who, for the first time in sixty-seven years, gave his vote to an RN candidate, after voting for Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round. “The consequence of all this is a restrained anger. A growing resentment within the population”, notes Jérôme Fourquet.
In Saint-Dizier, Véronique will demonstrate until the last minute. This nurse’s aide, on sick leave for five years following health problems, thinks of her ex-colleagues, who “make dozens of toilets a day”: “How do you want to continue doing that at 64, 65, or 66?” she asks. “In 2010, the indicators were relatively positive for the government on the dialogue with the unions and the consideration of hardship. Today, there is the feeling of a cut”, deciphers the director of the opinion and strategies department of business from Ifop. Far from being able to claim a sufficient number of annuities, Véronique worries about the years to come, and for her, and for the country: “I want to believe that we will eventually be listened to. But in the meantime, hatred go up. I just hope it doesn’t explode the wrong way.”