EVENTS MARCH 7. The first processions started on Tuesday 7 March. The unions hope to mobilize at least two million people and the information expects to live the most important day of demonstrations against the pension reform.
12:44 – The crowded streets of Lyon
After a few stops, the demonstration restarted in Lyon and it is clear that many Lyonnais came to challenge the pension reform.
12:29 – Young people in the demonstrations after the blockades of high schools
The FIDL high school student union welcomed the number of high schools blocked for the March 7 strike: 400 establishments! A consequent mobilization, even “exceptional” according to the organization. And the high school students intend to continue the movement by joining the demonstrations this afternoon.
12:15 – Protesters already gathered in Paris
In Sèves-Babylone, in the heart of Paris, the demonstrators are already beginning to gather on the square from where the procession will leave in the direction of the Place d’Italie. The start of the event is only scheduled for 2 p.m.
12:02 – The demonstration twice interrupted in Lyon
Hardly left, the procession had to stop twice in Lyon. Anti-capitalist and anti-fascist activists positioned themselves at the front of the demonstration, forcing the march to stop. Some yellow vests are also at the front of the procession according to the Grandstand of Lyon.
11:53 – Rain and music at the Agen demonstration
In Agen, the bad weather and the rain do not stop the demonstrators who advance covered but in music. The procession is such that it takes thirty minutes between the first demonstrators and those who close the march, according to the journalists on the spot.
11:41 – The procession sets off for Marseille with colorful placards
That’s it ! The demonstration started in Marseille and thousands of people are heading to the Mucem museum. The unions expect a large mobilization, more than 40,000 people counted in the procession on January 31 (205,000 according to the unions). The demonstrators certainly remain numerous and some display original signs to make their opposition to the pension reform heard. Here is an anthology of photos captured by Provence.
11:34 – 6,000 demonstrators in Calais according to the unions
The first figures of the demonstrations begin to fall this Tuesday, March 7. Direction Calais where the unions counted 6,000 demonstrators against 5,000 during the mobilizations of January 19 and 31.
11:24 – Crowds gathered to demonstrate in Lyon and Marseille
On the Old Port of Marseille or on the esplanade of the Tobacco factory in Lyon, the demonstrators formed compact crowds ready to march in the streets to protest against the pension reform.
11:07 – Emmanuel Macron responsible for the major demonstrations?
Jean-Luc Mélenchon also referred “directly and personally” the responsibility for the situation to Emmanuel Macron in addition to enjoining the Head of State to listen to the challenge: “His duty is to find an exit upwards since On the one hand, there is his own will and, on the other, that of the French people, who must have the last word”.
10:58 – A “historical event” according to Mélenchon in the Marseille procession
In Marseille, the demonstration has not yet started but in the Old Port the crowd has thickened. Jean-Luc Mélenchon must join the procession to fight against the reform of pensions and before the departure, the mentor of La France insoumise considered the movement of March 7 as an “event of History” as we have seen more “ for 30 or 40 years”: “It’s an immense showdown between a whole people and one person: the President of the Republic”. And the Insoumis to add: “The battle begins today, in a few hours, the whole country will stop. (…) We must expect that tomorrow and the day after tomorrow will be days of social mobilization very intense and justified”.
10:43 – In Agen, the departure is delayed but many demonstrators
The demonstrators have still not left for Agen, but Place Fallières, the starting point of the procession, is filling up with people, as a journalist from Sud-Ouest reports.
10:37 – An unexpected procession at Charles de Gaulle airport
Other events are being organized in addition to processions planned in city centers such as at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris. Several dozen cars and around 80 people gathered and intend to parade in front of the airport terminals to demonstrate their opposition to the pension reform.
10:30 a.m. – Numerous demonstrators in large and small towns
Several processions have set off all over France and if the unions are expecting people in the big cities, the municipalities are also present at the demonstrations as in Pont-Audemer, in the Eure, where the demonstrators are numerous.
10:23 – Blocked Parisian high schools
The movement won high schools this Tuesday, March 7. Several schools in the capital were blocked by students, including the Racine high school in the 8th arrondissement or the Turgot high school (3rd arrondissement) and the Dorian high school (11th arrondissement) where the high school students were dislodged by the police. In several places, such as in front of the Sainte-Hélène high school, which had already been disrupted during previous mobilizations, the police were present to dissuade the mobilizations. Will high school students join the processions?
The day of mobilization on March 7 promises to be massive and could be the most followed since the start of the movement against pension reform. Find all the information on the demonstrations and the strike of March 7 on Linternaute.