The protest against the pension reform entered a new phase on Tuesday, March 7. After a slight break during the school holiday period, the social movement is hardening and not weakening: 1.28 million demonstrators in France, according to the Ministry of the Interior. For the sixth time since January 19, employees, students and retirees have taken to the streets in large numbers to express their opposition to the government’s project. But this time, the intersyndicale had also called for a strike ” massive “ And “unpublished” For “bring France to a standstill”.
Early in the morning, the CGT-Chimie announced the blocking of fuel shipments to all refineries in France. Road blockades have also taken place since Tuesday morning, amplifying transport disruptions, and even some roundabouts. The four representative unions of the SNCF decided to continue the strike the following days, as did the energy sector. As for the air sector, the administration has asked companies to reduce their flights by 20% at Charles-de-Gaulle and by 30% at Orly, Beauvais, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice and Toulouse. .
About 300 processions marched all over France, once again marking the local roots of the protest. According to the various figures from the police and the organizers, they were between 22,000 and 30,000 in Brest, between 15,500 and 22,000 in Pau. In Rodez, the figures fluctuate between 14,500 and 25,000 people. Between 14,000 and 17,000 in Saint-Nazaire, between 10,000 and 22,000 in Poitiers. In Lyon (25,000 to 50,000), Montpellier (25,000 to 42,000), Nantes (30,000 to 75,000) or Toulouse (27,000 to 120,000), the crowds are essentially the same as at the start of the movement.
Conflicting emotions
In Paris, they were 81,000 according to the police, down from January 31, when the CGT counted 700,000 demonstrators, a record figure. The secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, had welcomed a “historic mobilization” before the procession starts. “It will be the strongest day of mobilization since the beginning of this conflict”assured at his side the leader of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, warning the executive against “a forced passage [qui] would only ignite the powder ». Tuesday evening, the eight main employee organizations called for two new days of mobilization, including one on Saturday, and asked to be received “urgently” by Emmanuel Macron.
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