Barthélémy Philippe, edited by Julien Moreau with AFP 06:19, February 11, 2023

For the first time since the start of the examination of the pension reform, the day of mobilization organized by the unions will be held on a weekend.

In the event that the French do not take to the streets en masse, the inter-union could change its tune and call for a tougher protest.

The unions play very big, this Saturday, February 10.

They call to demonstrate for the fourth time while the examination of the pension reform continues in the National Assembly.

The hope of the unions is to bring together more people than last Tuesday.

The level of mobilization had fallen significantly compared to the first two acts, just under 800,000 people had marched throughout France, according to Place Beauvau.

Another day of muted mobilization would be the sign of the beginning of the movement running out of steam.

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Strike a blow

This unusual schedule for a trade union meeting has precisely been set to strike a blow. The objective, according to Laurent Berger, general secretary of the CFDT, is to seek out the French who cannot strike.

"That's what it's all about: broadening the social movement to a popular movement. We have two phenomena that are very striking, a mode of work that is massively opposed to this pension reform and an equally massive rejection of the opinion and people, employees, citizens, who cannot necessarily mobilize during the week", declared the president of the CFDT. 

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The intersyndicale has already set two new dates for mobilization

But success is not guaranteed.

After zone A, it's the start of the holidays for zone B. This could slow down mobilization in several large cities such as Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux.

The other reason for concern for the intersyndicale is that the authorities are only expecting 500,000 to 700,000 demonstrators throughout France.

The inter-union has already set two new dates for mobilization, Thursday February 16 and Wednesday March 7.

The unions could then call for a renewable strike, in the home stretch of the review of the reform in parliament.