Pension reform: rallies everywhere in France after 49.3, thousands of demonstrators in Paris
A few thousand people at Place de la Concorde in Paris, gatherings elsewhere in France…use of 49.3 by Elisabeth Bornein order to pass the pension reform, gave rise to spontaneous mobilizations all over the country, at the call of unions.
Since the middle of the afternoon, in Paris, demonstrators gathered at the call of the Solidaires union on Place de la Concorde, not far from the National Assembly. They were joined shortly after 4:30 p.m. by demonstrators massed near the National Assembly and by a procession of more than 1,600 young people from the Place de la Sorbonne. According to a police source, they were “a few thousand” in Paris.
Other gatherings were organized in France, such as in Grenoble (Isère), where 200 to 300 people had gathered since mid-afternoon in front of the prefecture. “I thought they would respect democracy a bit. A priori I am very naive so I was surprised, I thought they were not going to dare to use 49.3, ”explains Karen Mantovani, reception officer at the CPAM in Grenoble and CGT union representative. “Everyone is grumbling but it lacks action”, she regrets, saying she is “revolted”.
“People will radicalize”
Present in Toulouse, for another demonstration, Olivier Saint-Jours, a 53-year-old teacher, thinks that the use of 49.3 “will stretch the movement, that’s for sure, it won’t stop there, people will become radicalized “. In the pink city, according to France Blue, 1,800 people were counted by the authorities (10,000 according to the unions) in this procession. In Lyon (Rhône), hundreds of people also gathered at the end of the afternoon, reports Progress. Other rallies are planned in many cities in France at the end of the day.
“There will be new mobilizations” against the pension reform, declared the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, denouncing a “democratic vice” after the government’s decision to activate the constitutional weapon of 49.3 to have its reform. The secretary general of the CGT, Philippe Martinez echoed him by affirming that “the mobilization and the strikes must be amplified”. An inter-union must be held Thursday evening.
