“We want to tell the government that there is a people and that we have to listen to them. Lucie doesn’t budge. A student in human and social sciences at the University of Paris I, she came to support the fight against pension reform. “We want to be useful and, above all, to tell Macron that we cannot despise the people like that. »
Coming to demonstrate from Republic to Nation with her comrade Lunel, she is one of those masses of students who, unlike those participating in previous demonstrations, came to swell the processions of this tenth day of mobilization against the increase in the age of retirement from age 62 to 64.
Even if the mobilization was down compared to that of last Thursday, the 740,000 demonstrators (according to the Ministry of the Interior) who marched throughout France on Tuesday were joined everywhere by numerous processions of students. and students. The first Bac exams having been completed, between 400 and 500 high schools would have been at least partially blocked throughout France, according to the La Voix Lycéenne union. From the beginning of the morning, several were in Nice, Marseilles and Paris. Even the Marcelin Berthelot college, a secondary school in Montreuil, was paralyzed by the students. In Rennes, it was students who blocked the ring road in the early morning even though, across the country, only 8.37% of teachers were on strike. This student mobilization probably explains, unlike the rest of the country, the excellent figures of the Parisian mobilization estimated at 93,000 demonstrators.
“I believe that what revolts the young people the most in this affair is the way in which this law was adopted, avoiding the vote of the National Assembly at all costs”, says Théo, a young philosophy professor who came to of Meaux, 50 kilometers from Paris. “It contrasts so much with what they are taught about democracy in our classes. »
Declining mobilization
Outside Paris, the mobilization was down, even if the unions considered it rather strong for a tenth day of protest. However, several signs of relaxation were visible. On Tuesday, only 6.5% of civil servants were on strike, twice as many as last Thursday. The garbage collectors of the capital have also announced the end of their strike, which has caused piles of trash cans in many districts of Paris.
Even if, the day before, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, had announced the arrival of a thousand Black Blocs in Paris, only the traditional clashes at the end of the course punctuated the Parisian procession. It must be said that 13,000 police and gendarmes had been deployed, including 5,500 in Paris alone, where their presence nevertheless remained discreet during most of the demonstration. On March 24, the leading procession where the union leaders were found could not reach the end of the route, Place de l’Opéra, because of scuffles with the police.
Among the causes of the decline in mobilization, several point to the catastrophic speeches of the Minister of the Interior. Trade unionists, such as the confederal secretary of the CGT, Catherine Perret, do not hesitate to accuse the government of “looking for the incident” in order to discourage mass gatherings. During the previous day of mobilization against pensions, on March 23, 441 police officers were injured in clashes. Even the president of the Conference of Bishops of France was alarmed on Tuesday at the “violence observed”.
Influential in student circles, but rather cold with the unions, the leader of La France insoumise (radical left), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has for several days been accused of inciting violence and excesses, or at least not to condemn them. The government particularly refers to the fierce clashes which left many injured last Sunday in Sainte-Soline, in the Deux-Sèvres, during an illegal rally supported by LFI against the construction of a water retention basin. “France is not led by cudgels,” replied Mélenchon when he was in the Parisian procession on Tuesday.
No “pause” for the government
Calls for a six-month “break” and “mediation” launched in the morning by the leader of the CFDT and main spokesperson for the inter-union, Laurent Berger, came up against an end of inadmissibility. “We do not necessarily need mediation to talk to each other, we can talk to each other directly”, immediately replied the government spokesman, Olivier Véran. He specifies that the president will not receive the union leaders for three weeks, that is after the Constitutional Council will have ruled on the constitutionality of the law. Many observers and editorialists could not help but underline the contrast with Israel where, faced with the scale of the demonstrations which have lasted for two months, the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has just suspended his justice reform.
French unions called Tuesday evening for an eleventh day of “strike and demonstrations” on Thursday April 6. Shortly after this announcement, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invited the unions to a meeting “Monday or Tuesday” next, said the secretary general of the CFDT. A “lapidary email”, according to Mr. Berger, who “will go and discuss pensions”, in particular to defend his “mediation proposal” in order to end the conflict. “We still need to discuss it in the inter-union”, nuanced the co-delegate of Solidaires, Murielle Guilbert, who wants to put “conditions before sitting down at a table”.
I believe that what revolts the young people the most in this affair is the way in which this law was adopted, avoiding at all costs the vote of the National Assembly
The Constitutional Council will soon judge the approach followed by the government and the constitutionality of certain articles of the law adopted last week. His decision is expected on April 17. Most experts believe that invalidation of the law is unlikely and expect at most the censorship of a few articles.
“Macron has learned nothing from the yellow vests, told us Julien, a 54-year-old electrician who, incidentally, wears a yellow vest. In ten years, I do not know in what physical condition I will be and if I will be able to make it to 64 years old. In the meantime, whatever happens, he promises to be there at the next demonstration, next Thursday.
With Agence France-Presse