The pension reform has sparked a new demonstration in the streets of downtown Chartres, this Saturday, since 1:30 p.m.
They were more than 1,000 demonstrators, according to the unions, 600 according to the police, and 700 according to our count. From the start, Place des Épars, the opponents gave voice, exhibited banners and sang anti-government slogans.
Pension reform: a symbolic picnic in front of the Eure-et-Loir prefecture
The demonstrators, supervised by plainclothes and uniformed police officers, including municipal police officers, deliberately simulated route directions, deviating at the last moment, like their passage, which is rare, in the Monoprix gallery. This forced the security forces to anticipate their movements.
Some traders preferred to lower the iron curtain even though discipline had been in place until now.
Images of the eighth day of mobilization against pension reform, in Chartres
Chartres station had also been made inaccessible in order to avoid disrupting the movement of trains and to secure access to the tracks that demonstrators could have targeted. But around 3:30 p.m., protesters managed to break into the tracks.
The demonstration continues at Chartres station @lecho_chartres @lecho_fr #Manifestations #retirements pic.twitter.com/bZ0cGXUNZY
— Thomas Desprez (@TomaDesprez)
March 18, 2023
Exchanges with elected Chartrains
The procession also passed by the cathedral before stopping at Place Billard, in front of the Artypik trade, by Mathilde de Gorges, the daughter of the mayor of Chartres Jean-Pierre Gorges. The demonstrators then gave voice in front of the establishment.
Mathilde Gorges is out, wiping salvoes of rather aggressive comments. She kept calm, smiling, and showed her incomprehension with her hands. She started a conversation with some: “My father is not part of the government. He does everything he can to make Chartres a beautiful city.”
Franck Masselus, deputy mayor of Chartres, also present in the trade, joined Mathilde Gorges for a more muscular frontal conversation with some.
Rallies against the pension reform banned by the police headquarters at Place de la Concorde in Paris
Jean-Pierre Gorges also sprang from the establishment. The police have come together in numbers to ward off any aggressive action on the public highway.
Although touched that we are attacking his daughter, he confided: “She is courageous. She is not afraid, she goes into contact to exchange. On the background of the reform, I wrote a book. I explain that the date of departure is stupid. I say that one should be able to leave between 50 and 75 years old. The one who is tired, worn out by his job, he leaves earlier, and the one who wants to stay longer “He stays. It’s silly to fight for 64 years. They’re all wrong, the right, the left. Nobody is positioning themselves on the right debate. You have to ask for flexibility.”
Unions persist
The procession finally resumed its journey. Chantal Lefèvre, secretary general of the CGT departmental union, in the lead: “The state does not hear us. It is a dictatorial government. However, there are many politicians who confirm that this reform is unfair and unnecessary.”
The trade unionist hinted that the mobilization would continue. Information confirmed by Pierre Licout, of the FSU: “Two days after 49.3, we are still there, and more numerous, in preparation for March 23. There will be actions every day, at 5 p.m., at the prefecture of ‘Eure-et-Loir. Without excluding other cities, other places. We will decide day by day.”
The trade unionist returns to the reform: “The use of 49.3 confirms that this reform is in the minority. Macron has chosen to enter into a political crisis, by force, to brutalize social and popular anger. Democracy is badly damaged in this March 18, 2023.”
Thierry Delaunay
