No keys or papers. To go to Montpellier, this Tuesday, June 6, the national secretary of the French Communist Party traveled light. "I had my things stolen from the Gare de Lyon while I was having a coffee", slips Fabien Roussel to the PS mayor of Montpellier, Michaël Delafosse, who came to meet him to greet him. This misadventure obviously did not affect the morale of the deputy from the North, who came to participate this evening in a debate on "freedom in politics" at the invitation of the pastor of Temple Maguelone. He took the opportunity to participate, as soon as he got off the train, in the local demonstration against the pension reform, which brought together 2,500 to 9,000 demonstrators here, according to the prefecture and the unions. "Ah, he's a handsome man, and he speaks well", appreciate two grannies, who have just asked him for a selfie.
The PS mayor and the communist leader, who display their cordial understanding, post themselves on the sidewalk and let the demonstration come to them. The union processions pass one by one in front of them, and militants detach themselves from them to greet them. "We need you, Mr. Roussel!" an admirer asks him. "I am nothing without you!" retorts the deputy. Psychiatric nurses accost the two elected officials. "You need resources, there is too much chemistry and not enough care and listening," says Delafosse. “You have been the poor relation of public health in recent years,” adds Roussel.
The mayor slips away. The communist leader remains on the sidewalk and continues to greet those who come to him. " We loose nothing ! provides him with a great strong bike. – On the pension reform, we will remain mobilized as long as the government maintains its reform! assures Roussel, with his ch'ti accent. Do you realize that we are being deprived of our right to vote? - When you go to the Assembly, you have to screw it up, overturn it! – You are funny, tempers Roussel. What are you into? – In the construction industry. I'd put that shitty Macron shit on the jackhammer for a week from morning till night, we'll see if he retires at 64! "In any case, we won't give up," concludes the deputy.
A former leader of the Yellow Vests of Montpellier, Livio, undertakes it: "They had us to wear. “I'm not saying you got screwed. We made them roll back on the carbon tax and part of the CSG. - Crumbs. – We would have liked more, we would have liked the revolution. But don't skimp on what you got anyway! A hostile man suddenly starts yelling insults at her. The local comrades keep the intruder at a safe distance. At the end of the procession, two Insoumis deputies from Hérault pass over a truck from La France insoumise. Roussel rushes towards them and shakes their hand warmly.
End of the demonstration. Direction a militant barbecue in a car dealership in the industrial zone of Montpellier, where 80 strikers, led by the CGT, are demanding wage increases. A barnum is erected in front of the concession. "There have been increases, but for half of the people, and at the head of the client", explains the union leader to the communist leader, who has dropped the jacket. "We want some snarl!" »
A storekeeper says he earns €1,400 net salary after 14 years of service. "It's a shame, it's unworthy, when food price inflation is around 15%, it should be prohibited by law," Roussel ignites. They hand him a microphone. He harangues the strikers: "We will continue to fight as long as this pension reform is on the agenda of this government!" The next fight is in two days, where, you know, we're going to have to fight for the right to vote! We are supposedly in a Republic, supposedly in a democracy. And I, an MP, have been deprived of my right to vote 11 times in not even a year since I was elected! End of the speech, place for the militant picnic. “I prefer barbecue smoke to smoke bombs. »
Consult our file: Pensions: the big bang
