Strike of January 31: in Bastia, seniors, “worn out”, beat the pavement


In Corsica, the poorest and most aging region of mainland France, more than 4 out of 10 working people are expected to retire by 2030. Seniors are angry.





From our correspondent in Bastia, Julian Mattei

Mobilization of seniors in Bastia on January 31, 2023.
© Julian Mattei

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EShe was there on January 19, for act 1 of the mobilization, and will continue to pound the pavement “every day if necessary”. Sign in hand, in front of the courthouse in Bastia (Haute-Corse), this Tuesday morning, Marie-Line, 60, willingly wields irony. His sign, brandished at the end of a stick, displays the color: “Macron, retirement is now. “From Boulevard Paoli, there are several hundred – 1,300 according to the prefecture, 5,000 according to the demonstrators – who have come from all over Haute-Corse to have responded to the call of the unions to say “no” to the pension reform wanted by the government.

The ranks are fuller than on the first rainy day of the demonstration. The almost spring sun is probably there for something. In the procession, there are many seniors. Jean-Marie, 59, is one of them. This mechanic is not accustomed to these street mobilizations. Except this time. In his line of sight: the postponement of the retirement age. “I have worked since 1985 and the more I advance towards retirement, the more it recedes, supports this fifties with graying hair. My activity requires physical effort, I already have the feeling of being worn out and I wonder under what conditions I will arrive at 64 years old. »

“We didn’t really need that now…”

This feeling is widely shared in the ranks of the demonstrators. Like this mechanic, more than four out of ten working people should retire on the island by 2030. Nearly 50,000 people. With 50.6% of seniors over 50, according to INSEE, compared to 40.2% nationally, Corsica is the most aging region in mainland France and one of the most affected in the short term by retirements. A situation that crystallizes tensions. Carole, 50, is a childminder in a school and admits this bluntly: I don’t see myself chasing the kids at 64. If we extend the working hours, that’s what awaits me. I will not have the 43 years of contributions in time. We cannot accept that. »

READ ALSOPensions: “The place of work in our lives has been collapsing for 30 years”

Beyond the slogans of the unions, the demonstrators want to continue to put pressure on the government. In the eyes of Nicole, 59, this reform comes, moreover, at the worst time. With galloping inflation, the energy crisis and the Covid, we certainly didn’t need that now, thunders this former private sector employee who lost her job almost a year ago. I wonder how I will live, or rather survive, if I retire. »

In addition to the question of the reform, there is a very significant problem in terms of purchasing power on the island: 18.5% of households live below the poverty line, established at 1,102 euros per month and per person. , against 14% for the national average. Among Corsican seniors, the figure even exceeds 35%.

“Work has no meaning”

In this context, the mobilization against the pension reform also reflects a feeling of “fed up” and “nothing is going any more”. Even people who work can no longer find housing and feed their families properly, deplores Marie-Line. This is very worrying for young people arriving in professional life. Work no longer has any meaning if it does not make it possible to live with dignity. If this concern is not specific to Corsica, it nevertheless takes a particular turn on the island. In 2019, a study by the regional social observatory revealed that island employees in the private sector had a median salary 18% lower than the average while prices are, not counting inflation, 3.6% higher. than in France.

READ ALSOPension reform: Elisabeth Borne alone in the storm

“The reform, added to the deleterious social context and the increase in the number of poor workers, accentuates the feeling of injustice, considers Jean Brignole, the general secretary of the Syndicate of Corsican workers (STC), of nationalist obedience. This project is unacceptable. We will fight to the end to make the government back down. A few meters further, while the procession moves slowly behind a banner, a sound system installed in the back of an old dump truck shouts loudly, undoubtedly setting the tone for the weeks to come: “We don’t let go nothing ! »

READ ALSOLIVE. Strike of January 31: 500,000 demonstrators in Paris, according to the CGT




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