Will there be people in the street this Thursday, January 19?
The question is on everyone's lips, while the unions hope to gather widely, on the occasion of this first day of general mobilization against the pension reform.
Opponents of the government's project are increasing calls to the French, while a small number of demonstrators would be a very bad signal to start "
the mother of battles
" against the executive.
To discover
Pension reform: calculate the age at which you will finally leave
In
the Sunday newspaper
, the national secretary of the PCF, Fabien Roussel, appeals to the “
people
”.
"
Public, private, young people, retirees, we must all come out massively next Thursday to say no to this reform," he pleaded.
Let's be 1 million hitting the streets.
It is only this meeting that counts
”.
Sacred union between union and parties
The tone is set, and the opponents intend to keep the fire going, relying above all on the sacred union between the unions, "
good news for the world of work
", according to Philippe Martinez.
“
There is not a sheet of cigarette paper between us.
As long as the reform is not canceled, it will hold
, ”warned the leader of the CGT, on France 3, Sunday.
The trade unionist also hopes to do better than the hopes expressed by Fabien Roussel: “
We can be more
” than a million in the street, on January 19, he let go.
“
We do everything to be more […].
It will be a very, very strong mobilization.
It has to be at the level of 1995, even 2010
,” added the representative, also calling for more strikes to put pressure on the government.
More measured but just as determined, the boss of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, meanwhile assured that he had “
rarely seen so much discontent and negative feedback
”.
"
The whole issue is whether the employees will follow or not
," however qualified the union representative, cautious.
SEE ALSO -
Pension reform: "The right to strike is not a right to block", warns Aurore Bergé
Government calls for 'responsibility'
The indicators point to a significant mobilization, this Thursday, while the reform is largely rejected by public opinion.
The government recognizes this moreover: "
I think there will be people in the street
", the opposition being carried by all the trade union organizations, declared on France Inter the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, Sunday morning.
A few minutes earlier, his colleague in charge of the Budget, Gabriel Attal, preferred to insist on the urgent need to implement the reform to save the pension system.
"
Otherwise, it's Anglo-Saxon capitalization, where it's every man for himself
," he warned.
Claiming to want to convince the French, the members of the government insisted on their desire to convince the French, by showing pedagogy.
Without avoiding, however, to strike a few scratches at the opponents: Gabriel Attal thus sent back to back the "
blocking camp
" - the Insoumis and their allies - and the "
lie camp
" - the RN, which defends the retirement at age 60.
The current text is "
already a compromise
", he pleaded, adding that the executive took "
no one as a traitor
", the reform being part of Emmanuel Macron's program.
Faced with the prospect of strikes and blockades led by the unions, the government has also multiplied calls for “
responsibility
” to avoid seeing chaos set in.
“
There is a right to strike, to demonstrate, but it is also important not to penalize the French
”, said Élisabeth Borne at the end of the week.
"
I hope this does not result in blockages of the country, there are plenty of people who want to continue to work, to live, and we can express opposition without blocking the country
", repeated the Minister of Labor, Sunday .
"
This right to strike is not a right to block
", added, at the same time, the boss of the Renaissance deputies, Aurore Bergé, to the Grand Jury RTL-LCI-
Le Figaro
.
Read alsoPension reform: the great unknown of social mobilization
The number of participants will therefore be one of the aspects closely scrutinized, this Thursday, while the unions hope to be able to rely on a first symbolic day to launch the movement over time.
We remember that the first day of mobilization against the previous pension reform, on December 5, 2019, saw some 806,000 people in France according to the police, and 1.5 million according to the CGT, a figure higher than that of the peak of protest in December 1995. Will this figure be reached, or even exceeded?
Answer Thursday.