• Will it be the last of the ders? The unions are calling Tuesday for a fourteenth day of mobilization against the pension reform, two days before the examination in Parliament of a bill to repeal the reform.
  • Some 250 actions are planned in France, which should bring together 400,000 to 600,000 people, including 40,000 to 70,000 in the capital, according to the authorities.
  • Strikes are announced among electricians and gas companies as well as in rail and air transport, including a third of cancelled flights from Paris-Orly. Opponents who have not said their last word.

Don't bury the protesters against the pension reform too quickly. Despite the promulgation of the law in mid-April by Emmanuel Macron, opponents have not said their last word. "It is not because the law passes in force that the anger goes down, it is necessary that the government hears it," said Jean-Christophe Delprat interviewed by 20 Minutes. The federal secretary of Force Ouvrière (FO) transport and logistics, in charge of the RATP sector, will be among those who will march this Tuesday.

Some 250 actions are planned across the France. They are expected to bring together 400,000 to 600,000 people - including 40,000 to 70,000 in the capital, according to the authorities. This is much less than the previous demonstrations in January or April, at the height of the mobilization. Nevertheless, this mobilization "will reaffirm that French citizens are opposed to the postponement of the legal age and the extension of the duration of contributions," says Jean-Christophe Delprat.

An anger to be heard

The trade unionist at FO still believes in the decline of power: "The implementing decrees have not yet been published, but the government has always said that it wants to go fast, it is good that it is not sure of itself. " Two first decrees were published in the OfficialJournal on Sunday, including one of the most controversial establishing the legal retirement age at 64.

If he can hear a "part of defeatism", Jean-Christophe Delprat assures that "when we question people, they think that the cause is just". "As long as there is discontent, the struggle will be present because we can not humiliate the French in this way the government will have no choice to backtrack, the movement is not dead yet," he insists. And this, two days before the president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, will vote for or against the examination of the flagship article of a proposal of the independent group Liot which plans to raise the retirement age to 62 years.

A demonstration for the future

If making the government back down today on this precise reform seems illusory, for sociologist Michel Wieviorka, "this is not the issue" of the demonstration planned for Tuesday: "It is a mobilization more expressive than instrumental, it highlights a gap between social aspirations and the political treatment of these social issues. " The gathering may a priori seem not to be of much use, but it is more "a symbolic display", abounds Stéphane Sirot, historian specializing in social movements.

Especially as the unions look to the future. The government is planning further reforms, including a future labour law. And it is unlikely to pass in calm if the executive remains deaf to the protest, warns Jean-Christophe Delprat : "The anger will remain anchored. The government is going to need social harmony, it is going to need us, especially for the 2024 Olympic Games. A strike at the RATP, among others, would not be welcome at this major event. But "we will not forget if the government persists," warns the trade unionist.

The pension reform confirms the success of the CGT with young
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In addition, the unions, which had somewhat lost their beauty in recent years, seem to have recovered with the pension reform. "The inter-union has worked well," notes Michel Wieviorka. "The social movement has generated political and social power that can be favourable to unions for future debates," adds Stéphane Sirot. There is an idea to prepare the sequel. »

Renewable strike vs. "leapfrogging" strike

But it is still necessary to determine modalities of action to create an effective balance of power. Even if Jean-Christophe Delprat still believes in victory on pensions, there are few signs that the government is ready to back down. However, if the mode of action changed, if a renewable strike, rather than "leapfrog" as the trade unionist calls it, were organized, things could change. The renewable strike has already proven its effectiveness in the past, especially in 2019-2020 during the last attempt to reform pensions.

Our dossier on withdrawal reform

Because the large demonstrations themselves, although they highlight the number of angry people, do not seem to shake the executive. "The street has power because it generates a context of discontent but it is not enough to achieve the success of the demands made," says Stéphane Sirot.

Some major demonstrations have succeeded in bending the government in place, notably in 1995 against Alain Juppé's pension reform. But for the historian of social movements, "the strike has a political and economic balance of power on the government and the employers and it is most often through this mode of protest that social movements have reached their end".

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