On the route of the procession this Tuesday, June 6 in Paris, the collective "Let's not turn the page" set up a table in the shade of a bus shelter. While some distribute leaflets to the demonstrators, others present paper and pen to sign the open letter. On this 14th day of mobilization against the pension reform, they demand two things from the inter-union: stop all dialogue with the government, and call for a general strike, "organize and finance it".
«
The unions do not do the work, so we take care of it, "says José, thirty-year-old, professor of philosophy in the Yvelines and who has been part of all the demonstrations, including breaks. "They space too much the days of mobilization. They have let 35 days pass since May 1st, when the iron should have been beaten while it is hot!" In fact, the mobilization marked a step on Tuesday: 31,000 protesters gathered in the streets of the capital according to the prefecture, the lowest figure ever recorded since December. The CGT counted 300,000 people, ten times more, but far from the 550,000 claimed on May 1.
The collective "Let's not turn the page" wants a general strike. EP/Le Figaro
Admittedly, the vote scheduled in the Assembly on Thursday no longer presents hope after the rejection of the Liot bill to repeal the reform, and return to 62 years. But a strike "for real", José wants to believe, can defeat the government. Philippe, in a yellow vest and equipped with his dictaphone, agrees with this opinion. "Todayis a semi-success. We should have been more people, but there are the holidays nearby, and the demonstrations never work in the summer. It works best in May, everyone knows that."
This leader of the Yellow Vests in Paris thinks he has the explanation: Laurent Berger must have had some "pot" to hide, and arranged with the executive by offering to scuttle the mobilization. "Just when everyone was hot, it fell like a pancake!"
"Not out of breath, but we have to eat"
Some admit to being tired. "People don't run out of steam, it's just that they have to eat," explains Mathilde, a young CSP+ from Paris. "Personally I'm on the 15th day of strike and it's starting to weigh financially."
«
We know that there will be no general strike, because people no longer have the means, says another protester, but the government has lost the battle of opinion. All this is not in vain. There are legal ways out with the Constitutional Council, a vote the day after tomorrow that can take place. The page is not yet turned, "he wants to believe.
Same slogans, same refrains to the tune of "even if Macron does not want it, we are here", with the difference that the scorching sun has replaced the icy winter drizzle. Some first-time demonstrators are there. Latecomers, or convinced of the last hour? "As a nurse, my right to strike is limited. But today is my day of rest," explains Sophie, a nurse at Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris, who came to demand more resources and staff with her sign: "Nurse at 64? No thanks."
Sophie, a nurse at Sainte-Anne in Paris, is demonstrating for the first time. EP/Le Figaro
The police increasingly hated
«
We'll go until the withdrawal," a guitarist hums on his float. When you ask the political science student humming next to him if he really believes it, the answer is frank. "No, I don't believe it anymore, but I'm here anyway, it's important." Arsène also regrets the tranquility of this event. "I've never set fire to a garbage can, but when I see others doing it, I'm not against it."
Some two hundred thugs - also in reduced numbers - broke a dozen bus shelters, burned garbage cans here and there, and launched a giant fire fed with a shed of construction sites in the middle of Port-Royal Boulevard. Routine. The demonstrators look at them with a benevolent eye. As soon as a firecracker sounds, the crowd gathers to see the show. And booing the police copiously.
Important police device in front of La Rotonde, a popular restaurant of the Macron couple. EP/Le Figaro
A large fire is started on Port-Royal Boulevard. EP/Le Figaro
Rue Flatters, perpendicular to Boulevard de Port-Royal, the Brav-M is seen in the distance. A handful of demonstrators engaged, sought contact, provoked cries of "ACAB!", "Barrez-vous!", "Commit suicide!". The police walk away. "F****, why doesn't it fart? We are not gathered enough. It's naze," grumbles one protester, not even hooded. Result, 28 people arrested in the Parisian procession, some marginal violence, and black blocs already vanished when the procession arrives Place d'Italie.
At 20:30 p.m., only a hundred demonstrators remain, calmly installed on the lawns in the middle of the square. The police are snapping to empty the premises. Strange face-to-face on both sides of the fountain, the police on one side, the diehards on the other. As a matter of principle, they will stand up to the end, pushed by the shields of the police towards the mouth of the subway. Then they will move to the Invalides, where another gathering is planned for the evening. "Anyway we put it back on Thursday," says a member of the infirmary team as he leaves his comrades. On 8th June the parliamentary vote is due to take place. For some... The battle is not over yet.
The police disperse the last demonstrators at Place d'Italie at 20pm. EP/Le Figaro
Face to face between police and demonstrators, Place d'Italie, around 20pm. EP / Le Figaro
