The protest against Macron’s pension reform is waning in France

The sensation of the end of the cycle of mass protests against the controversial pension reform of President Emmanuel Macron. The fourteenth day of protests, the least crowded so far, will likely be the last after four and a half months of strong union mobilization across the country.

«The game ends whether we like it or not. These are the last protests in this format “against the pension reform, he admitted on Tuesday Laurent Berger, General Secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), the first trade union in the country.

As always when there are protests, there was also a figure dance. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, 281,000 people They protested across France, including 31,000 in Paris. The CGT union claimed there were “more than 900,000” protesters across the country, 300,000 of them in the capital. In both cases, it would be the lowest number recorded since the mobilization began on January 19.

There were fewer people and less atmosphere at the Paris protests than in previous times. “I feel like I’m fighting alone”He said Jean-Pierrealias jpeg, disappointed with the poor participation in this last call. At 27 degrees and under a strong sun, this Frenchman sweated fat under a disguise on Tuesday “fireproof Gaelic”. He wore a braided wig, a thick fake beard, a moustache, a white dress made of artificial hair, a spear, a shield and a horned helmet. Refractory Gallo is a term that Macron used in 2018 for citizens who do not want change and for which he was heavily criticized.

“We keep hope [de que la Asamblea Nacional vote este jueves a favor de abolir la edad de jubilación a los 64 años]Otherwise, the protesters would not be here,” explained Jpix. Since May 1968, he has claimed that subscriber to various protests and that only one of the fourteen protests against the pension reform was lost this year.

Sophie, a 23-year-old nurse, went out to protest for the first time on Tuesday, demanding the withdrawal of Macron’s controversial initiative. “Given the working conditions, I don’t see myself as a nurse until I’m 64 years old. It is physical and mental work. It’s exhausting», explains this young woman who started working just six months ago.

bill of law

After the protests this Thursday, all eyes are on the National Assembly, where the deputies will deliberate this Thursday the bill presented by the centrist and regionalist parliamentary group LIOT (Freedom, Independent, Overseas territories and territories).

21 representatives who make up this alliance intend to abolish, s the help of left-wing representatives, Macron’s reform. However, it is most likely that the bill will not be voted on at the plenary session. National Assembly Speaker Yaël Braun-Pivet is expected to resort to a a legal trick to prevent voting in the lower house. On the basis of Article 40 of the French Constitution, the President of the National Assembly intends to declare inadmissible the amendments that seek to reintroduce a key article of the LIOT proposal to abolish the reform. The Commission for Social Affairs abolished that part on May 31.

“It is important that on Thursday the National Assembly can vote on that as well Finally, the representatives can also give their opinion on this reform“, he thought Sophie Binet, the new general secretary of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT). If the Speaker of the National Assembly “prevents the vote in the Parliament once again, it would be very serious for the democratic situation in the country,” the union leader said. Six out of ten French oppose the reform which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64. But the Government does not want to give in under the pressure of the street. The reform will enter takes effect on September 1.