Pensions: declining mobilization, RIP ... what to remember from this 12th day of demonstrations

The demonstrators once again pounded the pavement this Thursday for the 12th time against the pension reform under the impetus of the inter-union, but they were significantly fewer in number than at previous rallies

Pensions: declining mobilization, RIP ... what to remember from this 12th day of demonstrations

The demonstrators once again pounded the pavement this Thursday for the 12th time against the pension reform under the impetus of the inter-union, but they were significantly fewer in number than at previous rallies. Update on this day, on the eve of the long-awaited decision of the Constitutional Council.

The movement mobilized the French less than the previous days of mobilization. 380,000 demonstrators were in the streets according to the authorities, against more than 1.5 million according to the CGT count. In several large cities, police and union numbers are the lowest since March 11, the previous low point in the movement. 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), Rennes (6,500 to 15,000) and Clermont-Ferrand (6,000 to 10,000) .

"Contrary to what the government hopes, the movement is far from over," said CGT number one Sophie Binet, leading the Paris demonstration, where the police headquarters counted 42,000 participants against 57. 000 last week. For its part, the CGT claims 400,000 demonstrators like last Thursday.

For the boss of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, "the union fight is far from over", whatever the verdict of the Constitutional Council, expected Friday at the end of the day. The object of all attention, the institution housed in the Royal Palace, in the heart of the capital, is under close surveillance. The Paris police chief has issued an order to prohibit from Thursday 6 p.m. until Saturday 8 a.m. any demonstration near the Constitutional Council.

On the sidelines of this twelfth day of demonstrations, a few incidents occurred. According to the Paris prefecture, there were 47 arrests in the capital, where the headquarters of LVMH was invaded for a time. Ten police officers were injured in the demonstrations, according to the prefecture. Several clashes also broke out in different demonstrations: Nantes, Rennes, Lyon... In the Rhone capital, a journalist was injured in the head by a truncheon, during a charge by the police.

For the demonstrators, this twelfth day of mobilization is also running out of steam. In fact, the strikers were few, especially in education, where the ministry counted about 5% among teachers in areas not yet on vacation. Blockades of high schools and universities took place in Lille, Paris and Strasbourg. Few disruptions also in transport, with three out of five TERs and four out of five TGVs in circulation, and slightly disrupted metro and RER traffic in the Paris region. In the air, the cancellation of 20% of flights to Nantes, Bordeaux and Toulouse did not prevent delays of one to two hours observed at the start of the afternoon.

Left-wing deputies and senators launched a second request for a shared initiative referendum on pension reform on Thursday, a text that is more "secure" in legal terms than the request on which the Constitutional Council will rule on Friday. "The text has been deposited on the desk of the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher", indicated to Agence France Presse the president of the socialist group in the Senate, Patrick Kanner, confirming information from Public Senate. "The objective is that this text be transmitted to the Constitutional Council tomorrow, (Friday) before the possible promulgation of the reform", he specified.

"It is the same text" as the first request, supplemented by a 2nd article "which creates an element of reform: tax revenue linked to capital resources to secure the financing of the pay-as-you-go pension". This is to compensate for the "possible weakness" of the first request.