They repair the roofs, scan the items in checkouts, take care of the babies in the crèche, unclog the sinks… They are the roofers, the cashiers, the childcare assistants or the plumbers. If the daily life of each is very different, these workers in the shadows have in common to exercise a profession which, in the long run, causes a whole host of physical ailments: loose back, tendonitis, chronic pain, accidents at work… Currently, around 100,000 people retire early for incapacity, disability or hardship.
This question, precisely, of arduousness is a crucial point of the reform and a hobbyhorse for the unions. In particular, the bill provides for the establishment of a compulsory medical examination at age 61 for employees who are exposed to painful postures, mechanical vibrations or the carrying of heavy loads. It is therefore occupational medicine that will say whether a person can stop practicing at 62 or the legal age of 64, as the government wishes to establish. But what do the first interested parties think? Since the beginning of the debate, they have seen economists, politicians and editorialists judging whether or not their work is difficult and the possibility of extending their careers, without being called upon to express themselves.
“I believe in unicorns more than in movers over 60”
What quite annoy the first concerned. “When you hear on set that now we have an exoskeleton and that therefore the work is no longer painful, there is enough to freak out”, asserts Charles, mover in Béziers (34, Hérault). A reference to the president of senators LREM François Patriat. On Monday, December 12, the politician, guest of Public Senate, estimated that “movers, roofers, people in public works are equipped with exoskeletons, materials…”, specific equipment to make their work less painful .
A funny defense of retirement at 64, notes Charles in deadpan humor. “The only thing that reassures me is to tell me that if they are inventing this kind of nonsense, it is that there is really no real argument to defend their project. We are not crazy, they are the ones who are above ground, ” gets angry the man, who has not seen the slightest exoskeleton in his 20-year career. “What I have noticed, however, are guys broken in two, who have pain with almost every move, their backs in compote, their shoulders full of dislocation and for whom every day of extra work becomes a real hassle. . Guys who can’t stop but should. I believe in unicorns more than movers over 60. »
Deaf and mute anger
Medhi, a 32-year-old plumber in Montpellier, does not have the heart to use funny metaphors: “We are dispossessed of this debate, when it is our lives and our health that we are talking about. It is extremely humiliating and infuriating. “He will participate” obviously “in the demonstrations of this Thursday, January 19 against the reform. “Question of professional survival”, but also of pride, he defends. “That our professions are not considered socially and are despised, we know that. But at least, when a mother says to her kid: ”Go to school, otherwise you’ll end up like him”, she recognizes that it’s a painful and hard job. For the past few months, TV set experts have even wanted to take that away from us. Plumbing requires physical strength and flexibility, and it’s no secret that it declines as you get older, and when you do it every day. »
Same rage on Mathilde’s side, childcare assistants in Paris: “You can’t watch over kids at 60. It is impossible for us, and it is frankly not desirable for them either! Watching children, having to carry them sometimes, calming them down, never letting go of your attention, it kills your health quickly. Do you see the state of mothers of young babies? It’s the same for us. We are talking about a job where the slightest mistake or the smallest lack can have catastrophic consequences. Of course that requires being in good shape. »
Disconnection is not right
Cashier in a Franprix in the capital, Sandrine confirms: “We talk in our place, and in addition to talk nonsense, that’s a lot. She also sees herself struggling to work “really any longer. It’s a tiring, painful, repetitive job…” And which requires a certain liveliness that is difficult to reconcile with an age that is too canonical: “If you take more than a second to scan a product, the customer groans, speaks badly to you and your boss yells at you because he only wants efficient people. In any case, the young woman is not very optimistic about her future in this position, past a certain age. Like the products she scans, the cashier has, according to her, an expiry date: “The bosses prefer young, radiant and dynamic people. Everything that we no longer are when we grow old. »
Like Sandrine, Charles, Mehdi and Mathilde will demonstrate this Thursday. The opportunity finally to make their voices heard, they are so used to the words of others. And concerning this pension reform, they have a lot to say.