Working until the age of 64 is unthinkable for Katie (who preferred to remain anonymous like all the people quoted only by their first name). “I can’t take it anymore at 47”, laughs nervously this store manager in Stains (Seine-Saint-Denis), who started working at 18. It ensures that in the municipality “everyone is against the reform”.
However, like many here, Katie has not yet participated in the days of mobilization against the pension reform. And while new gatherings should animate France this Tuesday, March 28, especially in small and medium-sized towns, the inhabitants of the suburbs seem to be the main absentees from the mobilizations since the start of the disputes.
In these popular neighborhoods, the already strong feeling of never being heard has only been reinforced in recent weeks. “As soon as the government used 49.3, I understood that our voices did not count. As per usual “, regrets Djeja, agent of the city of Stains. The 32-year-old did not go to demonstrate despite her opposition to the reform.
Significant sacrifices
She could do it for her mother, a cleaner in 15-story towers. “She is 54 years old, her arms hurt, her back hurts, she can’t take it anymore. She’s been doing this job for twenty-five years. She is going to retire early but with a ridiculous pension”worries her daughter.
She could also go there to defend her own cause as a mother of four children, who started working at 18 and had to stop for three years to raise them. “We don’t have a contract for that. How am I going to make up for these years? », she asks herself. During his high school years, Djeja demonstrated ” With pleasure “ but today, with the children, she no longer has the time.
Despite opinions, precariousness remains an obstacle to commitment. Going on a day’s strike involves significant sacrifices. So the inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods mobilize less, even if they are among the most concerned. ” The people of the neighborhoods were at the forefront in the fight against covid. Then they took the full brunt of rising prices and inflation and now they are being asked to work two more years. It is always the same people who have to bear the consequences of the crisis “, indignant Rochdi, sexagenarian teacher in the secondary in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Nadia Hakmi receives a pension of around 900 euros per month and her three daughters help her financially
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