More than a million demonstrators in France, according to the CGT… Back in the streets Thursday for a twelfth day of demonstration against the pension reform, the opponents were fewer but still determined, on the eve of the crucial decision of the Council constitutional. After almost three months of social conflict, the mobilization has shown signs of running out of steam. This is particularly the case in Toulouse (9,000 according to the police, 70,000 according to the unions), Nantes (10,000 to 25,000) or Clermont-Ferrand (6,000 to 10,000).
In Paris, the demonstrators were also fewer in number at 42,000 against 57,000 last week according to the police headquarters, even if the CGT claimed 400,000 participants as last Thursday. “The challenge to this reform is still as strong”, however, said Laurent Berger, the boss of the CFDT before the start of the parade.
The traditional “Macron salsa”
In Rennes, the demonstrators were 6,500 according to the prefecture, 15,000 according to the inter-union. And this Thursday, the most radical elements of the demonstration set fire to two vehicles, according to our journalist present in the procession. Street furniture was also degraded and businesses were tagged. On the mall, the windows of the Lidl supermarket were vandalized. But this time the store was not looted. Before the start of the demonstration, the police had searched the bags of demonstrators, throwing away protective glasses and masks. According to the prefecture, “several bags filled with stones and cobblestones” were seized.
Rest in Rennes, this “rebellious tradition”, as Fabrice Lerestif, department secretary of FO says, has meant that since the first rally on January 10 the social movement has not weakened, as we can see in our video above. And those who “do not resolve to social injustice” continue to respond to the call of the inter-union … to the rhythm of the traditional “salsa du Macron” and the sound of bagpipes.