VIDEO. “We have to tighten our belts”: in Toulouse, several thousand demonstrators demand higher wages
This Thursday, a few thousand people marched in the streets of Toulouse to demand a salary increase.
Demonstrators arrive in clusters at the meeting place, signs and flags in their hands. On this strike day, this Thursday, 6,000 people responded to the call launched by the CGT, the FSU and Solidaires in Toulouse, according to the unions. 3,500 according to the police. The main demand for the demonstration is an increase in wages. The procession sets off at 2:15 p.m. from Place Arnaud-Bernard. At its head, Cédric Caubère, secretary general of the CGTHaute-Garonne, believes that “the increase in wages is becoming a necessity”. He supports: “Inflation is worrying. We are told that it reaches 6% but for most people, the feeling is around 30 or 40%. We are coming to the end of the month that is getting harder and harder for people. Everything is increasing, the situation is becoming untenable…”
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Behind him, representatives of different professions pound the pavement to music. For Ricardo, a bus driver for a Tisséo subcontractor, inflation is becoming a problem. “I receive a salary of 1,500 euros net per month. It is no longer enough. Between the daily trips by car and the price of the caddy which continues to climb, I can’t manage. My salary needs to be increased. I spend my time making choices,” he says.
Many demonstrators have also been living to the nearest euro for the past few months. The waltz of labels forces “the French to tighten their belts”, assures Benoit, network technician in drinking water and CGT union member. “We deprive ourselves now, on everything, he plagues. And the arrival of the cold, we will experience a new deprivation. Say goodbye to heating! »
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“We must index the salary to inflation”
Elected officials were seen in the procession. Georges Méric, the president of the departmental (PS), and Sébastien Vincini, vice-president of the departmental council (PS) were configured alongside the Nupes parliamentarians. For Hadrien Clouet, MP for the 1st constituency of Haute-Garonne, “the salary must be indexed to inflation”. “This measure could block the spiral in which we are caught and restore a balance”, he assures.
Around 4 p.m., the demonstration ended at the War Memorial, to François Verdier. It was only 30 minutes later that the last strikers left the scene.