Pension reform: "Are we going to have to live to work?"

For the third day of mobilization against the pension reform, nearly 2 million people demonstrated in France according to the CGT, 775,000 according to the police. In the Parisian procession, of…

In Paris, they were between 57,000 (according to the prefecture) and 400,000 (according to the CGT) to march for the third time to protest against the pension reform, examined in the National Assembly since Monday.

A number down from January 31, just like the rate of strikers in the public service, but which remains high.

While the unions mentioned possible renewable strikes, and called for a new day of mobilization on Saturday February 11, France 24 met young demonstrators.

Between defending their rights, fear of increased unemployment and desire for a change in society, they moved because if retirement seems far away to them, they all feel concerned.

>> To read also: Pension reform: "Sometimes the street governs"

We live in a productivist society that destroys the planet, and we are asked to give two more years

Rose, 16, high school student in first year at Hélène Boucher high school in Paris

It is important for me to mobilize now because this reform is shocking, it is a step back.

It is full of progress and social gains that we are losing.

We live in a productivist society, which has been destroying the planet for decades.

There, we are asked to give two more years to continue producing.

This system is damaging our planet, it is normal to revolt.

In my generation, we are necessarily green, we no longer have a choice, but it is not the small actions that will be enough.

Me, I'm a vegetarian, I sort my waste, but if we don't revolt more, that won't be enough.

I am not very optimistic for the future if there is no societal change.

This is why I am mobilizing, and I know that in twenty years, I will still be found in demonstrations.

It's not just a thing of young people who want to skip school, it's a commitment that is quite fundamental for all of us.

You have to be able to live longer and healthier without killing yourself on the job

Yannaël, 24 years old, in Master 2 of medieval history at the Sorbonne

Yannaël, 24, studying medieval history at the Sorbonne.

This reform is unfair because the most difficult trades are treated in the same way as ordinary trades.

I am willing to hear that more money is needed because there are more and more aging people, but the reform should at least be adapted to the hardship of the work.

Me, I'm afraid that I'll be asked to be a dehumanized working tool.

I intend to be a teacher, and I'm afraid of being poorly paid to do a job that can be difficult, with increasingly large classes, and of having to fight in a vacuum.

That's what I'm afraid of, and that's what I'm fighting for, for the betterment of society and our future.

We must be able to live longer and in better health without killing ourselves on the job.

Especially if it's 64 today, what will it be when I'm 60?

Should I work until 70 or 75?

It's the first time I've demonstrated today, because it's going too far.

We are not listened to, we have to mobilize.

Are we going to have to live to work?

Shaïma, 17, high school student in the final year of Vitry-sur-Seine

I'm thinking of the elders, the parents, the grandparents, but I'm also thinking of us, of my generation.

We are worried about our future, when we see that we are shifting the retirement age.

Will we finally have our retirement, will we live to work?

I also worry about my parents, they wonder if they will still be alive for retirement.

They are both 55 years old and have occupational diseases.

My mother is a nursing assistant, my father works at the Post Office as a production pilot, he sorts the mail all day.

They both need surgery.

If we shift the retirement age, I wonder if they will be able to have a moment in their lives to rest.

I think of myself too.

I'm very afraid of not finding a job when I finish my studies, because people will have jobs in my place because there will be no retirement for them.

I'm afraid of finding no outlet.

I already see relatives who have finished their masters and who are struggling to find work… Young people are also concerned.

You can participate in society other than by bringing in money

Bertille, 23, neuropsychologist at the hospital

Bertille, 23, neuropsychologist at the hospital.

The pension reform is the last straw.

After a while, what right are they not going to attack?

And when are we going to stop them?

There is inflation, there was the hospital crisis… And nothing has changed.

This is the opportunity to tell them, because they affect everyone.

Indeed, we are young, retirement is not for now, but the more we nibble rights and more, we, in forty years, we will have nothing.

It's everyone's role to protect what we have and make it progress.

We must act on all subjects, we cannot let ourselves be done.

We must protect the most fragile, and also bear in mind that the age of life expectancy in good health is about the same as that of the retirement age.

I believe that after a while, we have the right, after a lifetime of work, to take advantage of moments for ourselves and to participate in society other than by bringing in money.

This is also what many elderly people do: they take care of others, get involved in associations... It's useful, even if it doesn't bring in any money.

With this reform, we are being presented with a false dilemma

Amélie, 21 years old, in sociology license 2 at Paris Cité University

Amélie, 21, sociology student in Paris.

They say 'young people are lazy, they don't want to work'.

But that's not true: the value of work is agreeing to get up every day so that the salary allows you to be quiet, to pay rent, to eat, to go out, to pay for sports to his children.

It's the minimum.

Everyone must be able to have a decent life, and for that everyone must get involved now and this movement must not run out of steam.

My generation has 'morfled' with the Covid, and it's not getting better.

In my class, 63% of students have to work alongside their studies to live.

It's not fair, they don't have every chance of succeeding under these conditions.

Me, I don't want to do five years of study either, so that, as a result, I'm told to go and work at McDonald's because there's no place for me elsewhere.

I don't want to earn minimum wage all my life and be scared at the end of the month.

I find that with this reform, we are being presented with a false dilemma.

There are other ways of financing pensions: we can tax the ultra-rich, restore the ISF, regularize undocumented migrants, give real contracts to Uber and Deliveroo workers, who are in precarious situations and who do not contribute.

We can also increase wages to increase contributions.

The overwhelming majority of France is against this reform, it should be withdrawn.

Pension reform: "Are we going to have to live to work?"

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