15 November 1995. Alain Juppé, Prime Minister of President Jacques Chirac, elected six months earlier on the theme of the fight against the "social divide", announces a profound reform of the social protection system, structurally deficit.
"We will succeed what we have not dared to undertake for 30 years!", He had hammered in front of the National Assembly.
His plan includes strengthening state control over health insurance and increasing social security contributions, as well as aligning pension plans for civil servants and public enterprises with private sector employees.
From the 24th of November, the officials are mobilizing. Then begin three weeks of demonstrations and strikes of the railways and other public transport.
Alain Juppé "right in his boots" ends up giving up
Four days later, the general secretaries of the CGT and Force Ouvrière parade side by side for the first time since 1947. The CFDT Nicole Notat is the only major power plant to support most of the Juppé plan.
December 12, the peak of the movement, the events gather one to two million people throughout France.
Faced with the paralysis of trains and subways, the inhabitants of big cities organize themselves, help each other. In Paris, the streets offer the spectacle of long lines of walkers in the cold of winter. But despite the "galley" for millions of users, the opinion ranks on the side of the strikers.
Alain Juppé wants to be determined. The Prime Minister asserts himself "right in his boots". Nevertheless, facing the mobilization that does not weaken, he will be forced to give up the pension reform while maintaining the rest of his plan.
With AFP