The trade unions should emerge galvanized from this Saturday of mobilization. On January 10, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented the decried pension reform accompanied by a group of ministers in the premises of avenue de Ségur in Paris, hoping to convince the French that this reform was “fair” and “balanced. A month to the day after this presentation, the challenge has not run out of steam.
“An exceptional mobilization this Saturday throughout France: families, young people, workers, retirees came to say no to postponing the age”, declared on Twitter the deputy general secretary of the CFDT, Marylise Léon.
“We had a very strong mobilization this Saturday, especially in provincial towns. There were a lot of private sector employees and families who had not come to demonstrate during the week. We had to add courses in Paris,” explained Cyril Chabanier, president of the CFTC (French Confederation of Christian Workers) interviewed by the Tribune at the end of this day. He believes that the unions came out “reinforced” by these Saturday demonstrations. “I was surprised by all the applause”. Il expects “significant discrepancies with the figures of the prefecture because of the secondary streets which were crowded” and makes it difficult for the unions and the authorities to count. The demonstrations gathered 963,000 people in France, including 93,000 in Paris, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The CGT has identified 500,000 people in the Paris procession, and “more than 2.5 million” at the national level.
Surge in medium-sized cities
Since the first mobilization movement in January, parades have multiplied in medium-sized towns. The executive scrutinizes these movements very closely. Above all, the demonstrators were more numerous this Saturday than during the rallies in the middle of the week but fewer than the first two days according to the first figures from the authorities, which increasingly diverge from those of the unions. “The movements were important in the cities of the sub-prefecture”, underlined Cyril Chabanier.
The burst is visible in medium-sized towns, such as Roanne (Loire) where the police counted 6,000 demonstrators, against 3,000 on Tuesday. Same trend in Périgueux, where 5,200 people marched against 3,700 four days earlier. Or even in Guéret, with 4,000 participants against 2,900 at the start of the week.
The unions ready to harden the movement … from March 7
Before the start of the Paris parade, the unions gathered in a press conference assured that they would not give up going to the showdown with the executive. They indicated that they were “ready to bring the country to a standstill in all sectors on March 7” if the government and Parliament remain deaf to the challenges. “We will be at the most opportune time. It’s hard to demonstrate every week. This will allow us to leave with fully inflated employees,” judge Cyril Chabanier.
This announcement of a hardening on March 7, “it leaves a little time if they want to react,” declared the number one of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, adding that “we are not in the logic of strike renewable”.
His CGT counterpart Philippe Martinez stressed that “the ball (was) in the court” of the executive. The inter-union at the RATP has already called Saturday for the first renewable strike of the movement, from March 7. This timetable could be considered particularly late for opponents of the reform.
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The representatives of the main French unions gathered before the demonstrations of this February 11 in Paris. Credits: Archyde.com.
New mobilization day scheduled for February 16
Pending a possible hardening of the movement in early March, the inter-union called for a new day of interprofessional action on February 16. The various centers have planned to meet the same evening to develop a mobilization strategy.
The leaders of the unions have notably planned to write a letter to each parliamentarian “to reaffirm our opposition and that of the population. At the same time, we will call on our local structures to challenge deputies and senators in their constituencies. »
The parliamentary battle resumes on Monday
After a chaotic week in the Assembly, the debates will resume this Monday at the Palais Bourbon. The deputies of the majority have already voted the article aimed at abolishing the special diets at the end of last week. Opposite, the opposition should still go to the front in the hemicycle and during the press briefings organized on Tuesday and Wednesday. In an electric climate, the government hopes to advance its pawns while social mobilization is far from falling. The next few weeks promise to be particularly decisive on the political level.
Indeed, the government has made concessions to the LR right on long careers or the legal age of departure at 64 instead of 65. But the executive is far from sure of having the majority to pass its text. The use of article 47-1 or 49-3 would then have the effect of a bombshell on such a disputed reform.
