The course has changed, not the slogans. “No to reform”, “64 years old is no”, “43 annuities, women sacrificed”. As on January 19, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Paris against the pension reform project, Tuesday January 31, this time between Place d’Italie and the Invalides.
“Retirement Before Arthritis”
Alongside union banners and political party slogans, many added their personal touch, with a touch of humour. “Work tires even donkeys”, can we read on a cardboard. “Retirement is taken alive”, “Retirement Before Arthritis”, “Ms. Borne don’t be stubborn” or “The horn says yes, my body says no” is written on others.
The crowd is compact and the atmosphere remains good-natured. No one was convinced by the speeches of government officials in defense of the contested reform. “This is the number one object of our mobilization, we do not want to leave the door open to this project”, says David, 30, a young member of the CFDT-metallurgy. “We are also here out of solidarity, for our colleagues who cannot afford to lose a day of work to demonstrate”, continues his colleague, Jocelyn, 29 years old.
Retirees ? “10% of the problem”
Leaning against the entrance to the Italie Deux shopping center, at the tail of the procession, Zina also came ” basically “ to say « non » raising the legal retirement age. “I am 42 years old, I work at night, I do not see myself working at 64, I will never last”testifies this caregiver employed in a public hospital in Val-d’Oise and member of Unsa-santé.
Beside her, Romeo nods and completes. “The unions have framed the mobilization on retirement, but, for me, it is 10% of the problem, believes this other caregiver, who works in nursing homes. There is also inflation. » He who drives 130 kilometers every day monitors the price of fuel. “With our professions, we can’t do anything but go to work by car, adds Sophie, 58. Food, gasoline, everything is increasing, it is also a general fed up that makes us demonstrate. »
The water drop “
A little further on, a small group of young specialized educators from Hauts-de-Seine also ensure in chorus that they are not only beating the pavement against the text which will be discussed in public session next week at the National Assembly. “It’s a bit of everything that made us come, especially the cost of living”, summarizes Nolwenn, 24 years old. “There is a general fed up, also thinks Didier, 63, retired from the public service and unionized at the CFTC. The context is gloomy, there is precariousness, it was not the time to make this reform. » The sexagenarian accompanies his wife, Laurence, 58, who is demonstrating for the first time. “For me, this reform is the straw that broke the camel’s back. »
In front of the head of the procession, others are regulars of the demonstrations, and their slogans do not evoke the question of retirement. A pirate flag flutters in the wind, many are dressed in black. “We are here, we are here, even if Macron does not want to”, they intone, taking up a song of the “yellow vests”. First set back in the adjacent streets, CRS and mobile gendarmes intervene shortly after 4 p.m. when the first overflows occur. Near the Invalides, they charge several times and carry out arrests.