The unions kicked off a mobilization this Thursday, January 19, that they want to be “powerful” enough to roll back the government on its flagship pension reform. From Nantes to Marseille, the demonstrators pounded the pavement in the morning, before the Parisian procession set off at 2 p.m. to say “no” to the decline in the legal age of departure from 62 to 64 years old.
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The first figures reported by the prefectures attest to a significant mobilization: at least 30,000 people marched in Toulouse, 6,500 in Mulhouse, 6,000 in Tarbes, 4,000 in Nice and Belfort. Levels comparable to those of December 5, 2019: at the start of the protest against the previous pension reform project, the police had counted 806,000 demonstrators in France, the CGT 1.5 million.
In Marseille, in the middle of a compact crowd, the leader of La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, estimated that ” the government has lost its first battle, that of having convinced people of the need for its reform “.
More than 200 assembly points were planned in France, with authorities expecting 550,000 to 750,000 demonstrators, including 50 to 80,000 in the capital. To supervise the gatherings, more than 10,000 police and gendarmes are hard at work, including 3,500 in Paris, where security sources fear the formation of a ” pre-cortege potentially violent from 1,000 to 2,000 people.
” It’s going to be a strong day (…) This question of pensions concentrates all the dissatisfaction », Inflation and rising energy costs, commented the number one of the CGT, Philippe Martinez.
Slow public transport and teachers absent from school benches
French people who do not use telework, which has developed strongly since Covid-19, have to deal with public transport in dribs and drabs. At SNCF, traffic was “ very strongly disturbed “: one out of three TGVs runs, even one out of five depending on the line, and barely one out of ten TER trains on average. The Paris metro is also very disturbed “. There was no traffic at the port of Calais, the first in France for travellers, due to a strike by port officers. Refineries and oil depots were also called upon to cease their activities.
Many public services are also the subject of strike calls, in particular education, where the main union, the FSU, counts 70% of striking teachers in schools and 65% in colleges and high schools.
The ministry figures for its part the mobilization at 42% in the primary and 34% in the secondary. A handful of establishments were blocked in Paris, Rennes and Toulouse.
“We must block the economy”
For the leader of Force Ouvrière, Frédéric Souillot “ we left for a hard conflict ” and “ we must block the economy “. A response to Emmanuel Macron, who judged on Wednesday that it was necessary “ make the distinction between the unions which call to demonstrate in a traditional framework and those which are in a deliberate step to block the country “.
Although their modes of action diverge, the eight main unions present a united front unprecedented for twelve years. The left-wing parties are also upwind. This first day has test value for the executive as for the unions, which will meet in the evening to decide on a new date – January 26 is on the table –.
A few days before the presentation of the text in the Council of Ministers, the government continues to work ” pedagogy », Elisabeth Borne defending a project that brings social progress to the country “.
►To listen also: Is the pension reform fair?
(With AFP)