Daniel plants the flag of Lutte Ouvrière, between two trestles, in front of the Salle Pelloutier, in Montpellier (Hérault). This retiree from the hotel industry came from Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), Thursday evening, to help his Hérault comrades, in the preparation of the meeting of Nathalie Arthaut (LO). “I am a small hand! », smiles this sexagenarian, who joined the troops of this revolutionary movement a few years ago. “I voted socialist for a long time, I came back from it, he sighs. They betrayed us. The most anti-social laws we have had are with [François] Mitterrand or [François] Holland. They did things that the right didn’t dare to do. »
But the big night is not for now, recognizes Daniel. “Me, I’m not likely to know him, I’m 66 years old!” When you see how passive people are today, you don’t risk a revolution… But you have to maintain this smoldering fire. Moreover, what pleases this Arlesian, with Nathalie Arthaut, is that she does not have the ambition to be elected President of the Republic, but “to make the workers’ camp heard”.
“Zoos in space when there are people breaking the slab? »
In the room, dressed in the colors of Lutte Ouvrière, we expect the candidate from one minute to another. Guy, these evenings, he knows them by heart. He has been campaigning for Lutte Ouvrière for almost 50 years. He knew the “fights at the shipyard of La Ciotat, then at the ship repair in Marseille”. “This company is at the end of its course, this retired metallurgist is indignant. What’s the point of sending zozos into space when there are people breaking the slab? Most of the candidates who say they are on the side of the workers are only aiming for 1,400 euros of minimum wage. Me, if they want, I give them 1,400 euros to live, in the current situation. We’ll see if they make it! »
Its candidate, Nathalie Arthaut, does not want any salary to be below 2,000 euros. But in the polls, it is below 1%. “It is not in the ballot boxes that the workers are strong, sweeps Guy. It is in the social struggles. »
“The PC has been supporting Mitterrand and Hollande for years and years”
Outside the room, Juliette and Lucie, 21 and 25, the newspaper of the movement under their arm, discuss with passers-by, intrigued by these red flags which float on the place Zeus. If Juliette, a biology student, is alongside Nathalie Arthaut, it’s because she adheres to her position. “A candidate who says ‘Vote for me, I’ll change things for you’, I don’t believe it for a second,” she says. It will be the world of work, in revolt, which will succeed in wresting things for him. Only Nathalie Arthaut says that. Fabien Roussel (PC)? Lucie, at his side, doesn’t want to hear about it. “The PC, it’s been years and years that it supports [François] Mitterrand, [François] Holland…”, plague this student in letters.
Philippe Poutou (NPA) has more grace in his eyes, because he talks about “things that concern us”. “The parties that have only one idea in mind, how to best manage society to serve the interests of the capitalists, there are plenty of them, confides Lucie. So why couldn’t there be plenty of parties, with nuances, but which defend that what matters is the world of work and its struggles? »
The 500 referrals? “It only surprises those who do not know us”
In the audience tonight, there are young people who will vote on April 10 for the first time. This is the case of Lucas, 18 years old. It is not yet sure to vote for Nathalie Arthaut, perhaps it will be for another far-left candidate. But anyway, assures this economics student, the communist ideas that he has anchored to the body, “there are other ways to carry them than with the presidential election. The important thing is the fight. »
The Lutte Ouvrière candidate has arrived in the Pelloutier room. She arrives with good news: she has passed the 500 sponsorship mark. She has 529. Surprising, while others, better placed in the polls, struggle. “This only surprises those who don’t know us,” smiles Nathalie Arthaut. And who think that we appear, like that, every five years, out of nowhere. Like aliens from the depths of the universe. Those who offer their signature to Lutte Ouvrière are “mayors of small towns, employees, technicians, engineers, workers, professors, farmers… Women and men from the world of work, he confides. -she. They feel that we carry a legitimate camp to be able to express themselves. »
Nathalie Arthaut agrees, she will not win. “I know very well that I am out of the race, confides the candidate, for whom this is the third presidential campaign. But what I put forward, it does not fall on deaf ears. It affects a lot of women and men. The success of a campaign is not just about the number of voters. “It is time to climb to the perch, for Nathalie Arthaut. And to chant the famous “Workers, workers! », inseparable from the movement.