Was this the last day of demonstration against the pension reform? In Chartres, the departmental procession brought together less than a thousand people (700 according to the prefecture of Eure-et-Loir, 800 according to our count and nearly 1,000 according to the unions), this Tuesday, June 6, in the streets of downtown, for the 14th National Day of Union Action.
A mobilization in sharp decline compared to the previous parade, which had brought together 3,000 people in Chartres, on May 1. Very far from the 10,000 demonstrators registered in the Beauceron capital, on January 19 and 31.
“We are not giving up the fight”: less than a thousand demonstrators in Chartres against the pension reform
A flag in hand, Rémy Delépine, member of the CGT Santé departmental union of Eure-et-Loir, notes this low attendance:
There is less people ; it smells like the holidays and the end of the movement. The publication of the first two decrees of application of the pension reform, Sunday, in the Official Journal, has undoubtedly demotivated more than one.
In the procession, participants seem to be torn between weariness and anger. “There is real wear and tear. The government has played the rotting of the movement by refusing to hear us with contempt and authoritarianism. But we are not giving up the fight”, declares Pierre Licout, co-secretary of the FSU in Eure-et – Loir and one of the leaders of the movement in the department. “I have another 20 years to work, I hope I can retire at 60.”
More than 3,000 people at the May Day demonstration in Chartres
Marie, a special education teacher, took three hours off to join the parade. This resident of Lèves confides:
“I feel like it’s the last breath. The strike is expensive. I’m lucky not to have to lose a whole day’s salary. I’m ready to continue to mobilize, but around me, people are losing hope.”
Marie (special educator, resident of Lèves)
Eric Jarry, departmental secretary of the FO union, does not seem surprised to see the mobilization crumble. “I had no illusions. We missed the general strike last March,” said the trade unionist. “If we have not won for the moment on the pension reform, we have succeeded in uniting all the workers. It is already a great victory which gives hope for future mobilizations.”
Nearly 10,000 people demonstrated in Eure-et-Loir against the pension reform
Some are already planning for the start of the school year, in September, and even a little further. “The embers of the fire, you must always be wary of them. The government should know it. It can start again”, loose Chantal Lefèvre, secretary general of the CGT departmental union. “There are the Olympic Games coming to Paris, in 2024. It could go wrong if the reform is not withdrawn.”
Helen Bonnet
#Social #thousand #demonstrators #Chartres #pension #reform #smells #holidays #movement
