In the aftermath of a first successful day of action, the unions are planning a new mobilization against the pension reform on Tuesday, January 31, with the hope that the demonstrations and strikes will push back the executive.
“This reform is unacceptable and goes against the interests of the population”reiterated the eight trade union centers Thursday, January 19 in the evening in front of the press.
” On strike until retirement ” ? In Paris, demonstrators determined to mobilize over time
For them, “the message is very clear: the government must abandon hasu Postponement of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years and the acceleration of the extension to 43 years of the contribution period “.
“Multiply actions”
Before this new day, the unions are calling for “multiply actions”in particular around January 23, the day the law was presented to the Council of Ministers.
Thursday, many demonstrators pounded the pavement, mostly calm despite some clashes, kicking off the protest against this decried reform.
Pensions: “When the reform was announced, I felt injustice and contempt for the workers”
“Over two million” people demonstrated in more than 200 processions in France, including around 400,000 in Paris, the CGT said, while the Interior Ministry counted 1.12 million demonstrators, including 80,000 in the capital.
A level of mobilization higher than that 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.
An “unjust and brutal” reform
Throughout France, well-stocked processions displayed a ” no “ the raising of the legal retirement age, against a background of widespread social discontent in a context of inflation. “It is a completely unfair reform that strongly disadvantages the working classes”for example denounced Damien Mathieu, 36, an IT employee in Toulouse.
Sacrificed generations: behind the retirement age, social inequalities
Laurent Quéré, 42, carpenter and roofer, is afraid of being ” broken “ at 64 years old. “Already at 40, we feel the pain of the body on a daily basis”, he explained, parading through the streets of Brest. The petition launched last week by the eight unions against a pension reform deemed “unjust and brutal” crossed the milestone of 600,000 signatures on Thursday.
The Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, admitted that the mobilization had been “important”. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne welcomed the ” good conditions “ where the protests took place. “Let’s continue to debate and convince”she pleaded on Twitter.
“Renewable strike”
From school to transport, many sectors were affected on Thursday. Around 45% of SNCF and EDF employees were on strike. If the number of strikers was greater than in 2019 at EDF, whose employees risk losing their special pension scheme, the mobilization was less at the SNCF, where his has already been closed to new entrants since 2020.
“This strike is the fuel, the engine of the mobilization. So why not […] the renewable strike? »launched Thursday morning Fabien Villedieu, Sud-Rail delegate at Gare de Lyon.
On the refinery side, the movement was followed by 70 to 100% of TotalEnergies employees depending on the site. Fuel shipments have been blocked, but work was to resume this Friday morning, unless otherwise decided at any local general meetings.
The direction of EDF, she counted 50% of strikers Thursday on its total workforce. A figure up from the first – and the most followed – of the days of action against the project for a universal point-based retirement system. Eyes are now riveted on certain strategic sectors such as energy and transport and their ability to engage, through the renewable strike, a standoff with the executive.
