How many protesters will there be at the end of the day? The figures will be scrutinized and analyzed by both the government and the political forces and trade unions that oppose the pension reform project.
While waiting to have the global figures, it would already seem that the mobilization day is of a certain magnitude. From Calais to Nice, protesters pounded the pavement in the morning, before the Parisian procession set off at the beginning of the afternoon to say “no” to the raising of the legal age of departure from 62 to 64, in a context of widespread social discontent in a context of inflation.
The first figures communicated by the authorities attest to a very significant mobilization: 36,000 people marched like this in Toulouse, 26,000 in Marseille, 25,000 in Nantes, 19,000 in Clermont-Ferrand, 15,000 in Montpellier, 14,000 in Tours, 12,000 in Perpignan and Orleans, 6,500 in Mulhouse and Périgueux…
On Twitter there are many images and videos showing imposing processions marching through the streets.
Like here in Brest in this fast-paced video.
Or there in Marseille where the mistral that blows strongly on the shores of the Mediterranean did not deter opponents of the reform from pounding on the pavement. In the capital of the Paca region, the CGT announces 140,000 demonstrators, when the prefecture has 26,000 on its side.
The scores of the police or the prefectures are especially significant in medium-sized cities, such as Pau (13,600 protesters), Angoulême (9,000) or Châteauroux (8,000).
In general, the levels are comparable or even higher than those of December 5, 2019: at the start of the protest against the previous pension reform project, the police had counted 806,000 protesters in France, the CGT 1.5 million.
“Unprecedented” mobilization in Lyon
In Lyon, the CGT speaks of an “unprecedented” mobilization and calls on the protesters at Place Bellecour to stay put. More than 38,000 people are on the streets according to union figures.
In the crowd, many first-time protesters, such as in Marseille, Jérôme Thevenin, a 52-year-old cook with a “cut off” career, who worked for a long time as a seasonal worker.
The objective of the unions is to exceed one million demonstrators for this first day of mobilization. As a reminder, there were 806,000 protesters according to the police on December 5, 2019 during the first day of mobilization against the previous reform (1.5 million according to the organizers).
More than a million protesters?
In Marseille, the leader of La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, considered that “the government has lost its first battle, that of having convinced the people of the need for its reform.”
This first day has test value both for the executive and for the unions, which will meet from 6:00 p.m. to decide on a new date – January 26 is on the table.
The oil CGT wants to go back on strike that day for 48 hours, and on February 6 for 72 hours.
The CGT Mines-Energie has also announced a strike for renewables. The cuts in the production of electricity already intensified strongly on Thursday, reaching at least the equivalent of twice the consumption of Paris.
Before the presentation of the text in the Council of Ministers on January 23, the Government continues to work on “pedagogy”, defending Elisabeth Borne a “project of social progress for the country”.
Source: BFM TV
