After more than two months of protest, the social movement against the reform remains powerful and noisy. Certainly, the tenth day of mobilization, Tuesday March 28, did not reach the attendance records of January 31 or March 7, and it is even down from the previous day. The Interior Ministry counted 740,000 protesters against 1.09 million on March 23.
But the level remains relatively high. They were 93,000 in Paris according to the police headquarters, 450,000, according to the CGT. The ebb is more marked in Nantes, where the unions claimed 60,000 demonstrators, when the prefecture counted 18,000, in Rennes (between 13,600 and 25,000), in Brest (between 12,000 and 28,000), in Marseille (between 11,000 and 180,000), or in Lyon (between 12,500 and 35,000)
The inter-union had rather anticipated this decline in participation. Laurent Berger reported a drop of around 20% before the departure of the Parisian procession, while insisting on “a protest movement that remains extremely strong”. The secretary general of the CFDT, on the other hand, regretted that his mediation proposal formulated in the morning was immediately swept away by the government. “We will continue to be responsible for two,” he said. But there is annoyance” to the attitude of the executive. “Isn’t it unconscious to bet on breathlessness and resignation when you know the risk of social explosion? »questioned for his part Cyril Chabanier, who was nevertheless pleased to see the youth more and more present in the processions. “It can help us hold on”considered the president of the CFTC.
Young people, whether students or high school students, are indeed present in the processions, even if their number remains difficult to quantify. In Paris, there are even first-time activists like Julie (the first name has been changed), a student at Inalco. “It’s the first time I’ve come because my classes have been canceled. It was complicated to come before because the administration was not at all conciliatory”, says the 20-year-old girl. At Inalco, which does not usually mobilize, things are changing. “We had a general meeting for the first time last week. If the mobilizations continue, I will probably come back”explains the young girl who “fears a lot of police violence”.
“Now everything revolts us”
And even among the most seasoned activists, like Laura, a student at Paris-I, in political science, “the fear of force by the police”is well established. “The atmosphere is very very tense, now there is the risk of being hit when we block or when we demonstratelaments the young girl. But we don’t give up and we are more and more in the street. » Student in Assas, Maeva also participates in her first event. It was not so much the pension reform that made him move but the use of 49.3 and police violence. “These undemocratic practices go against our individual freedoms”gets angry the international law student.
You have 63.67% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.