The image is as symbolic as it is unprecedented.
For this fifth day of protest against the pension reform, Thursday, February 16, all the leaders of the inter-union are preparing to demonstrate at the start of the afternoon.
However, there is no need to look for Laurent Berger (CFDT) or Philippe Martinez (CGT) at the head of the Parisian procession which sets off from the Place de la Bastille.
The power stations have indeed chosen Albi, a small prefecture of the Tarn, 50,000 inhabitants, 700 kilometers from the capital, for their parade.
A carefully considered decision as the mobilization of “small and medium-sized towns” has continued to surprise since January 19, the start date of the social movement.
This is one of the first lessons of these gatherings, which have already brought together, at the height of the protest, 1.28 million people,
To discover
LIVE - Pension reform: Emmanuel Macron on TF1 and France 2 Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Small towns, big events
14,500 people in Rodez (Aveyron), 5,000 in Pontivy (Morbihan), 2,000 in Montbard (Côte-d'Or) and 9,000 in Chalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire)... The demonstrations of March 7 l have confirmed: many prefectures and sub-prefectures of rural departments are extremely mobilized against the government text.
Thus Foix (Ariège), where more than 20% of the inhabitants of the agglomeration, or 5100 demonstrators, pounded the pavement that day.
Same thing in Quimperlé (Finistère).
In Guéret (Creuse), 6,700 individuals marched, a record for the town of barely 13,000 souls.
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