It was a little after 9:30 a.m. on Friday January 27 when Clément Beaune left line 5 of the Paris metro. In the damp and gray cold of 11e district of Paris, the minister delegate in charge of transport narrowly avoided the rants of the rush hour. But other demonstrations of bad humor awaited the former sherpa of Emmanuel Macron. Bold, the one who was elected, on the wire, deputy of the 7e constituency of Paris, in June 2022, comes to sound out, with a handful of activists, ordinary people on the most electric subject of the moment: pension reform.
After the massive mobilization of Thursday January 19, new strikes and demonstrations are expected on Tuesday January 31. In the transports, “it will be strong”, predicts the minister, who, like a good soldier of “macronie”, goes to the front to defend the action of the government. At the Popincourt market, here he is courageously handing out a leaflet boasting the” balance “the « justice » and the ” progress ” of the law, which plans to raise the retirement age to 64 in 2030.
« Too early to talk about that”smiles politely a busy forties, while the grizzled heads sweep the invitation with a formula launched as a relief: “Already retired! It doesn’t concern me anymore! » The reception is indifferent at best. At worst, freezing. Talk about pensions? ” What next ? »replies a lady curtly when the minister approaches her, before slipping a ” who is it ? ». Another passes by without even looking up, dragging her shopping cart towards a charcuterie stall.
“It must be complicated for you right now”
An elegant woman, fake fur coat on her back, agrees to take the little piece of paper and even take a look at it. « “Justice”, she reads. Are we kidding ourselves? » Clément Beaune cashes, argues the merits of the reform, which, he explains, must save the system and will allow many current retirees to earn more thanks to the revaluation of minimum pensions to 1,200 euros. Nothing works.
The lady in the fake fur complains about the public services which are disappearing and about “49.3”, this article of the Constitution which allows a text to be adopted without a vote, and which the government has used ten times at the end of 2022. “It must be complicated for you right now”sympathizes an elegant blonde retiree.
” We know each other ? »launches a passerby in stride, refusing the prospectus, before an old gentleman, newsboy cap screwed on his head, suggests that he is not against this reform. “There is still something that bothers me”, he confesses, clutching the paper to him. For fifteen years he was a craftsman. Result : “150 euros pension. It sickens me a little bit. Clément Beaune cautiously mentions the 1,200 euros minimum pension. “Perhaps you are entitled to it? »he asks.
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