in Guichen, near Rennes, a first demonstration without “thugs” or “tear gas”

“Macron, you’re screwed, Guichen is in the street”, spits out a loudspeaker, between the war memorial and the hairdressing salon. About 500 people gathered in the central square to demonstrate their opposition to the pension reform, Thursday April 6, around 5 p.m. From the memory of a trade unionist, we have not seen a demonstration in this town of 8,800 inhabitants for twenty years. This time, Guichen (Ille-et-Vilaine) joined the national mobilization which reunited “nearly two million” of participants, according to the unions, 570,000 according to the Ministry of the Interior.

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“Here, we know it’s not going to turn violent,” explains Anne, 60 years old. “Finally, we hope. Otherwise, we leave”adds the former caregiver, turning to her husband. “In Rennes, everything was ransacked”breathes Marc, who will celebrate his 62nd birthday “the same day as Elisabeth Borne”. Less than 30 kilometers from Guichen, the prefecture of Brittany now acts as a foil for some opponents of the reform, worried about the increasingly violent clashes between demonstrators and the police.

“No need to take phy serum”

“We suspect that there are no thugs in Guichen”, reassures Samantha. Her husband went a few times to demonstrate in Rennes, but without her or their 8-year-old daughter. “There, we can come with the family”, welcomes Mickaël. Their daughter Mélody, wrapped up in a pink down jacket, even met her classmates and the teacher in the procession which is beginning to form. “No need to take phy serum from the bag”, smiles Mathéo. The 22-year-old student has become accustomed to tear gas which fogs Rennes on mobilization days but finds “owl” to also be able to demonstrate with his mother and his little sister, near the family home.

A kid suddenly crosses the crowd, shouting “Macron, your reform, you know where we put it!” provoking the smiles of the demonstrators on his way. “He is good, this child”loose a lady seeing him jump.

He is the son of Mickaël, a bus driver in the neighboring town. These songs, he learned them during a demonstration in Rennes. “At the beginning of the movement, we went there onceexplains the father, before changing his mind. Now I don’t want to go with him anymore. My 70-year-old mother-in-law took tear gas…Here it’s easier.”

“It’s good to see nice law enforcement”

It is past 5:30 p.m. when one of the organizers finally takes the microphone. “We are not leaving immediately, in agreement with the mayor, so as not to hinder the departure of school buses”, explains the trade unionist. In the small town, there are no blockages or barricades. Gendarmes even come to discuss the rain and the good weather with the demonstrators, while a clearing pushes back the risk of downpour on the city center. “It’s good to see nice law enforcement, rejoices Jacky, 32 years old. When he comes home, he’s probably a family man like me,” launches the worker, with his daughter on his shoulders.

The family lives in the next village and is going to a demonstration for the first time. The schedule chosen by the organizers is timely. “For the pépettes, it’s complicated to go on strike”, explains Jacky. For his wife, Justine, a nurse at the hospital, it is even impossible during the day. “I am requisitioned automatically”, launches the thirties. Only their friend Guillaume, a storekeeper, agreed to cut his salary. “I’m single, I don’t have a dependent family, so I can afford it”he says.

A few meters away, Anne-Sophie, in her fifties, has not gone on strike since the beginning of the movement either. “It’s complicated financially, so I went to protest in Rennes during my lunch break, between noon and two. But it’s even better at this time, she congratulates herself. It shows that everyone is against this reform, not just in the big cities.”

“I am not convinced that we are heard”

The procession now winds the rue du Général Leclerc. Behind the windows of the houses, some inhabitants observe this astonishing procession. A neighbor came out in a bathrobe on a balcony. “It’s not too much in the culture here”explains Frank. The forty-year-old is delighted that his city is taking part in the demonstrations, he who had tried in vain to mobilize on the church square during the Nuit Debout movement.

A small turn of the roundabout next to the Super U and the demonstrators take the road in the opposite direction. On the side of the road, Joël, red cap with the FO logo on his head, counts his troops. “We are 530”he slips, smiling. “I had set myself the bar of 100 people, so it’s a success”rejoices the pensioner, who organized the demonstration. “Of course, I would have preferred that we were 2,000!”, he adds, laughing. Still, for a first in Guichen, it’s a success, while seven other rallies were planned for Thursday in the department.

“Even the old CGT activists have never seen so many different demonstrations on the same day in Ille-et-Vilaine.”

Joël, protester in Guichen

at franceinfo

Retracing their steps, the demonstrators themselves seem surprised at the length of the procession. “Word of mouth worked well”, rejoices Sarah, a teacher who came with her two sons. A success that does not prevent him from being worried about the future. “I would like to believe it, but I am not convinced that we are heard”, she admits, resigned. Doubt is not allowed for Joël: “The revolution begins in Guichen!”