The inter-union counted 10,000 demonstrators in the streets of the prefecture of Mayenne. This is more than during the January 19 demonstration.
From our correspondent in Laval, Charles Guyard
© Charles Guyard
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VThis is a figure that the authorities will hardly be able to dispute. In Laval, out of the thousand chipolatas and merguez sausages ordered for the catering stand on Tuesday, there was hardly a single one left at the start of the afternoon. And for José, it’s mathematical: “A successful demonstration is when there are no more sausages at the end”, smiles this union delegate from the energy branch. As eccentric as it is, this prophecy nevertheless came true when the first figures came out: at least 10,000 people thus beat the pavement in the Mayenne prefecture, according to the unions, this morning of January 31, 8,500 according to the police. And whatever the version, it is more than during the mobilization of January 19, which was already the record in the XXIe century for this city of barely 50,000 inhabitants.
“The last time we saw this was in 1er May 2002, when the FN had arrived in the second round of the presidential election”, savors Franck Eli, the general secretary of the CGT departmental union. Above all, this new record was not necessarily won in advance for Mélanie Allain, CFDT regional secretary for Mayenne. “Even if nine out of ten French people are in favor of withdrawing part of this reform, particularly with regard to raising the age to 64, you should still know that a striker loses a day’s salary, and with the current situation, it is very complicated. So coming here is not insignificant, you really have to be motivated. Some people told us that they couldn’t come to both rallies, but that they had suddenly arranged with colleagues to shoot. »
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If Caroline Brémaud had taken leave on Tuesday, there was no question for the head of emergency services at Laval hospital to stay at home despite 24-hour care this weekend followed by a day of complete work in the legs yesterday, Monday. In his service, “ohWe have passed the stage of anger so much there is exhaustion, and there it is worrying, ”she notes. If she came, accompanied by a few white coats, it was precisely in support of the others, who remained in the middle of the stretchers to ensure the functioning of the emergencies.
One in five residents
Elsewhere, however, the economy had to slow down, as noted by Florian Bercault, the young mayor (DVG) of Laval. “I am impressed by the mobilization, both from the public sector and the private sector, the employees of our companies are also very well represented”, he observes. A real challenge in this territory generally spared by social upheavals where the unemployment rate is relatively low (5%). Unemployment whose compensation rules will also tighten from this 1er February… “We see that this event is not reserved for trade unions or activists, the whole population is really there,” adds Franck Eli, of the CGT.
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A population which, above all, no longer hesitates to come and fill the processions of these medium-sized towns, and this is one of the main successes of the unions: the extent of the mobilization no longer affects only the large urban centers. In Laval, the equivalent of one inhabitant in five marched. Reported on the scale of Paris, that would make some 400,000 people in the streets of the capital! “This France of medium-sized cities, we don’t talk about it much when more than 50% of French people live there,” continues the mayor, Florian Bercault. When they see a government capable of releasing 100 billion euros for the defense budget and saying at the same time that a few billion are missing to complete the pensions budget by 2030, what is the social justice behind this project? ? »
This question, they were therefore even more numerous to ask themselves this Tuesday in Laval as elsewhere. And if nothing moves, it should still fuel the challenge in the coming days. Tomorrow, the unions must meet again for a possible third episode.