This Thursday's mobilization for the first demonstration against Elisabeth Borne's pension reform mobilized hundreds of thousands of people all over France.
20 Minutes
went in processions in Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseille or Paris.
Amid the flags, slogans and songs, the people present rejoice at the size of the processions, a sign of a mobilization more seen for years.
The demonstrators are rising up against a reform which they most often describe as "unfair" in view of the efforts required.
"It's more than I imagined," smiled Laurent Berger, national secretary of the CFDT at the start of the procession from Place de la République in Paris.
The unions, who were hoping for a mobilization on a par with that of 1995, were delighted, on Thursday, to see their call to fight against the pension reform heard.
Hundreds of thousands of people beat the asphalt.
In the big cities of France, our journalists went to meet those who refuse the extension of the contribution period and the consequences it entails.
In Marseille, Mélenchon denounces "a showdown that makes no sense"
On the Canebière, the cold wind flaps the flags of the demonstrators, white-hot by a reform they do not want.
Under the banners, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, back in Marseille alongside his successor Manuel Bompard, shouts victory "I believe that there is already a battle that has been lost by the government", wants to believe the former deputy LFI from Marseille.
"No one believes in the value of their arguments," he says.
People know they are being lied to.
“And to urge Emmanuel Macron to withdraw his reform, faced with a” standoff that does not make sense.
“The irresponsible in this case is the one who causes such a mess in the country.
»
“This reform is completely unfair and unjustified”, abounds Bernard, an LFI sticker on his heart.
The young pensioner lives there his first demonstration in 66 years of existence.
"I was a manager in the medico-social sector," he explains.
I was fired at 57.
And I haven't found a job, despite my two Masters and my experience.
I remained unemployed, until being placed on disability when I fell into a deep depression, to be able to hold out until retirement.
Otherwise, I ended up at the RSA.
We do not want to go up to 64 years in the galley.
Above all, we must value the expertise of seniors and their jobs, otherwise we will all fall into poverty.
Do not abuse !
At some point, enough is enough!
We have worked all our lives to have a decent retirement.
And today, we finish smicard!
»
“We, our 64-year-olds, they are all dead, is moved by Richard, a 36-year-old docker.
It's too much !
They all die at 60, just after quitting.
We work a lot, but behind, we are not rewarded much.
Nearly 26,000 people demonstrated according to the police headquarters and 145,000 according to the unions.
In Nantes, "if we don't move, they will continue to push back the retirement age, again and again"
In Nantes, "it's been a long time since we've seen so many people", smiles a man, cap pressed on his head, at the foot of the castle.
It is indeed a dense crowd – between 25,000 and 50,000 people, according to the police and the unions – who marched at the end of the morning and in good humor, to show their opposition to the pension reform.
In the procession, several teachers from La Durantière college, located in REP, made the trip: “For the moment, we are cashing in mentally but we do not see ourselves continuing until the age of 64.
Overcrowded classes, lack of resources… All of this makes our daily lives particularly painful, believes this English teacher.
If the government stopped giving gifts to companies, we might be able to finance them properly, our pensions.
»
This is also the opinion of Mona, 35, who despite the cold rain came to demonstrate with her neighbours… and their young children, aged between 5 and 6 years old.
“We discussed it between us and despite the risk of clashes, we decided to take them to share with them this popular fervor, to show them that we had the right to go into the street to express ourselves, they say. .
If we don't move, they will continue to push back the retirement age again and again.
As if there were no limits.
»
In Bordeaux, "perhaps the biggest demonstration ever seen"
A huge procession set off shortly after noon from the Place de la République.
"An endless parade", comments an impressed participant.
“Perhaps the biggest demonstration I've seen in Bordeaux, and yet I did!
“, adds a trade unionist.
The unions estimate the participation at around 60,000 people, when the prefecture put forward a figure of 16,000 people in the afternoon.
Among the demonstrators, Caroline of the feminist AG of Gironde, is there because “25% of the poorest died at 62 years old.
If those who live longer want to work longer, there is no problem, but we must stop asking those who are no longer capable of it at 62, to work even more... And as usual, women are expensive.
The 1,200 euros is for a full career.
»
Antoine, 26, is a civil servant in Bordeaux.
He demonstrates with Sandrine, 27 years old.
“We are not yet retired there, and we will have to work until the age of 67, but we are mobilizing for our parents who are strongly impacted by this reform.
We are also there for those who started working in their twenties and who have difficult jobs.
They're going to have to do extra years, and that's not fair.
And reading the COR report, we are not sure that this is the right solution, there may be other alternatives.
»
In Paris, even the "uninitiated of the demonstration" mobilized
“It's a big first for me, but it's worth it.
Shivering, Sarah* struggles to hide her excitement in the face of the huge crowd and the thousands of flags crowding into the Place de la République, 400,000 people announced by the CGT.
"It's not my type, I'm one of the uninitiated of the demonstration", smiles the young woman of 33 years, an executive in a large energy company, who took her day to hide her coming from her colleagues all very "Macron thoroughly".
“You can't call me a leftist, but the reform goes too far.
I am for the market economy, but there are sacred things: Health, education, unemployment and pensions.
If they want to save pensions, there are a thousand other solutions.
What convinced her to hit the pavement this Thursday?
Her 8-year-old granddaughter: "If we let it happen,
she won't have any of that when she grows up.
»
Jean-François, either, is not a regular at demonstrations.
but this 45-year-old firefighter is worried about his profession: “I am not opposed to a reform, but not in this way.
“Authorized through an overcontribution from age 57 to retire, Jean-François and his colleagues will now have to push up to 59 years.
“It's a demanding profession.
Not everyone can be transferred to an office.
We can talk to each other, already at 55, the body no longer regenerates in the same way and night awakenings for interventions become complicated and attack the organisms.
As proof, he points out that the life expectancy of a firefighter is seven years lower than the rest of the population because of accidents, fatigue and the substances breathed in during their career which cause cancer:
“So what they have contributed will be used to pay the pensions of those who are not exposed to such risks in their profession.
“A speech that echoes with his colleagues all in uniform that attracts smiles and “bravo” from the other demonstrators.
*The first name has been changed at his request
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