New day of mobilization against the pension reform, this Thursday, April 13, 2023. In Paris, the procession left from the Place de l’Opéra towards the Place de la Bastille.
The Ministry of the Interior noted 380,000 people in the streets of the country on Thursday, against a million for the CGT. Both sources confirm the overall drop in mobilization against the pension reform.
The secretary general of the CFTD, Laurent Bergé: “a huge resentment and a dull anger” are still present in the minds of the demonstrators. He plans: “still meetings in the street, especially on May 1st” and adds, emphasizing to Le Figaro: “The union fight is far from over.”
Sophie Binet, new secretary general of the CGT, was present this morning at the incinerator of Ivry, to support the strikers.
About Emmanuel Macron and his invitation to meet the unions, Sohpie Binet said: “he must withdraw this law otherwise he will not be able to lead the country.”
She explained that the President of the Republic invited the trade unions to “talk about things other than pensions”, causing her to be confused in view, in particular, of the meeting held with Elisabeth Borne last week, of which the unions left prematurely when they realized that they were not there to talk about pensions.
The intention of the trade unions is clear: if there is a meeting with Emmanuel Macron to talk about the withdrawal of the reform, the inter-union will be present “with great pleasure, otherwise we have something else to do” reports Le Parisien.
Many demonstrators left the planned route to reach the entrance of the Constitutional Council. Then begins a face-to-face between the police and the protesters.
The security system has been reinforced since this morning, where trash cans had been installed in front of the entrance.
As the rain begins to fall, avenue de l’Opéra, the interface is ready. This time placed at the head of the procession, the young people organize themselves and sing – “Angry students, they’re fed up with the galley” – to try to motivate the troops. At 2:30 p.m., the sun has returned, the march finally begins. “We will go as far as withdrawal, that’s for sure”, slips a student, activist at the Raised Fist. “Constitutional or not, we don’t want this law,” sing the students.
Even if the reform is validated by the Elders. On a banner made by hand, they call to demonstrate, tomorrow, in front of the institution.
The number of civil servants on strike against the pension reform fell on Thursday, with in particular a rate of strikers of 3.8% among the 2.5 million state civil servants, at midday, against 6.5% on April 6, according to the Ministry of Public Service.
In the territorial public service (2 million), 2% of the agents were on strike, against 3.9% at midday convened by the inter-union. In the hospital public service (1.2 million), the rate is 4.2% against 5.9% last Thursday. The mobilization of civil servants had already experienced a slight drop on April 6 compared to March 28.
Tensions erupted near La Samaritaine in the 1st arrondissement of Paris between demonstrators and the police, noted a franceinfo journalist present on the spot. Stores have been attacked by black blocks. The Parisian procession was dispersed with tear gas.
The prefect of police of Paris, Laurent Nuñez, has just issued an order at the request of the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin to prohibit from Thursday 6 p.m. any demonstration near the Constitutional Council. The Council of Elders is due to make its decision on the disputed pension reform on Friday evening. The ban will continue until Saturday 8 a.m.
The first clashes began in the capital, particularly around the Town Hall. The police intervened several times to prevent the procession from stopping. The first projectiles were thrown at the police who responded with tear gas.
A journalist from the Actu Lyon site was injured in the head during the demonstration in Lyon, reports his media on Twitter, which evokes “a truncheon to the head”. “He was taken care of by the firefighters and evacuated to a hospital”, adds the information site.
The procession is no longer advancing in Paris. It is blocked near the Place de la Bastille due to tensions. Everyone throws the ball back. The demonstrators accuse the police of charging when no hostility is to be deplored. The police say they react to the presence of disruptive elements.
In addition, the Paris police headquarters announced that 25 people had been arrested in the Parisian procession at this stage of the demonstration
The tension rises in the Parisian procession, on the side of the rue Saint-Antoine. Throwing of projectiles at the police and the use of tear gas are reported by our teams present on site.
Great tensions on the Place de la Bastille
The procession of the Parisian demonstration, arrived for 30 minutes, on the place of the Bastille, of great tensions between a part of the demonstrators and the police are to be deplored. The police are notably positioned near the Banque de France to protect the building.
For 40 minutes, there were clashes between demonstrators and the police, place de la Bastille, where the flower vases in front of the French bank were destroyed as well as the newsstand. Bottles, rocks and hard objects were thrown at the police. At the same time, the security forces attacked the group of demonstrators arriving and forced them to stand in Place de la Bastille, beating them with truncheons for no reason.
The images are shocking, one has the impression of being in a continuous social revolt, or something like a violent revolution.
In Paris, the demonstrators are gathered in Bastille. The security forces launched a charge against some of them. Clashes took place.
From all corners of the Place de la Bastille, we could see the assaults of the police, as well as the use of tear gas all over the square, the air unbreathable because the substances were much stronger than during the last demonstration of April 6.
On both sides, protesters and police were injured.
According to the Public Senate media, 253 left-wing parliamentarians filed a second request for a shared initiative referendum (RIP), on the eve of the decision of the Constitutional Council. The text, deposited on the office of the president of the Senate was deposited because of a legal doubt. According to Patrick Kanner, president of the socialist group in the Senate: “After analysis, we have drafted a text which is more consolidated in legal terms, with financial arguments, in order to make a real reform proposal”, he explained to Public Senate.
42,000 demonstrators in Paris according to the prefecture
42,000 people marched Thursday against the pension reform, according to the prefecture, ten times less than the crowd published earlier by the CGT (400,000). On April 6, the prefecture had counted 57,000 demonstrators.
131 events scheduled for tomorrow
Internal intelligence has identified 131 mobilizations planned for tomorrow across France. Decisive day for the pension reform bill, the Constitutional Council will make its decision on the text. The demonstrations of April 14 could bring together more than 41,000 people in France.
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