Fifth day of demonstration against the pension reform in Morlaix (Brittany), February 16, 2023. Vincent Feuray/Vincent Feuray / Hans Lucas via
DECRYPTION – A success on the pension reform could partially change the situation as successes have become rare in recent years.
Good times for unions. Since the start of the protest, the latter have recorded a surge in membership rarely seen before. It was Laurent Berger, the secretary general of the CFDT, who was the first to welcome this good momentum. At the end of January, the reformist leader announced a jump of 10,000 requests in the past month alone. “Double the usual rate, while January is usually a good month”, he then explained. A few days later, Force Ouvrière was also pleased to have 5,000 more members over an equivalent period. Latest, Philippe Martinez underlined Tuesday February 10 at the microphone of Europe 1, that his union had “exceeded 10,000 new memberships in one month”.
A trend that does not surprise Michel Pigenet, historian specializing in social movements: “These gains come from the great visibility that the unions acquire by being on the front line of the conflict”, he points out. A phenomenon already visible during…
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