"The movement is not running out of steam": 10th day of mobilization against the pension reform

In the Parisian procession, March 28, 2023. AFP - JULIEN DE ROSA

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Tens of thousands of people were again in the streets on Tuesday, March 28 for the 10th day of mobilization against the pension reform. A day marked by the outstretched hand of the unions who call for a "mediation", rejected however by the government.

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Five days after the previous mobilization, which was marked by a historic mobilization and clashes between demonstrators and the police, the demonstrators are again giving voice this Tuesday to make their rejection of the pension reform heard.

In Paris, the procession of tens of thousands of people left the Place de la République in the middle of the afternoon. 5,500 police officers are deployed to supervise it (and 13,000 throughout France). Before the Paris mobilization, blockades and other actions took place. For example, hundreds of railway workers blocked the Gare de Lyon on Tuesday morning in tribute to "Seb", a railway worker blinded during the demonstration on Thursday, March 23.

During the blockade of the Gare de Lyon, in Paris, on March 28, 2023. REUTERS - SARAH MEYSSONNIER

« Determination is as important as ever »

In the rest of the France, mobilization seemed to be slowing down. The first figures from both the authorities and the unions showed a decline in participation, as in Tarbes (5,000 to 15,000), Nice (3,700 to 25,000) or Clermont-Ferrand (11,000 to 40,000).

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The movement is not running out of steam However, said from the Auvergne city the leader of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, judging "the determination still important" to demand the withdrawal of the reform and its flagship measure: the postponement of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years.

Mediation

Before the demonstrations, the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, called on Tuesday the executive to set up a "mediation" to "find a way out" of the social crisis. A request that will be the subject of a letter from the inter-union to the President of the Republic.

► Read also: Pensions: the executive declines the proposal of "mediation" of the CFDT

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We understand Laurent Berger's proposal to talk to each other, but directly. There is no need for mediation, "assured the spokesman of the government, Olivier Véran, during the report of the council of ministers. "It will begin to suffice, the purposes of non-reception to the discussion and dialogue (...) It is unbearable, that the response is an end of non-acceptance, "responded the union leader. The government's response is "an arm of honour," said the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Oliver Faure.

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