"It's unthinkable": in Nantes, at least 25,000 people mobilized against the pension reform

Charles Guyard, edited by Alexandre Dalifard 8:30 p.m., January 19, 2023

This Thursday, Ile-de-France residents were not the only ones to march to oppose the pension reform.

Big or small towns, the fight was the same for all the French people opposed to the project.

Europe 1 was present in Nantes where 25,000 people were in the street according to the authorities.

On the other hand, according to the unions, the demonstrators would have been more than double. 

"I work in kindergarten. So, clearly, it is the children who will perhaps change my diapers", ironically Marie, present during the mobilization.

At 59, she does not see herself continuing her job as a childminder for another five years.

"Physically, it becomes difficult. So obviously, I will not reach retirement age in full health. It is unthinkable," she laments.

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An intergenerational procession

This Thursday, they were at least 50,000 to have also thought that retiring at 64 was unthinkable.

A mobilization of almost unprecedented scale in Nantes which brought together all generations.

For example, Lazard, ten years old, preferred to accompany his parents in the procession while his teachers still provided the lessons.

"It's more important to be there for my future than to be in school", underlines the schoolboy. 

As for Émilie, 37, she also does not see herself working for more than a quarter of a century.

"Let's say that I don't have a job that is difficult compared to others, but on the other hand, I might not be as efficient at 60 as I am now. Are they the ones who want to keep? That's more like it," she says. 

Note that the event took place without any overflow, which, in Nantes, had not happened for almost two decades.