Special Envoy.

Mission accomplished. In Rouen, three bridges spanning the Seine are simultaneously black with people. 23,000 people marched on Tuesday, January 31, on this major event route, ie 3,000 more than on January 19. ” It is enormous “, notes Yann Mallet, CGT general secretary of the dockers, watching the crowd meander from the Pierre-Corneille bridge to the next. In the back of a truck, a fake coffin containing a dead worker poses the level of determination in the face of a hypothetical retirement at 64 years old. “The micro-adjustments that the government wants to propose are crap. He will have to go back to the legal age and, for that, we will go up a notch, ” he decides.

If the militants moved en masse, retirees, families and groups of friends were also numerous along the banks and walking the streets. Florian, 13, did not skimp on the preparations. With his father, Ludovic, a worker at Renault Cléon, he decorated his fluorescent vest with a provocative message: “I’m quitting college, I’m going to work for my retirement! » The young man enrolled in sport-study is sincerely concerned about the future: “I watch the news and it’s hot to work until that age. Especially since after my football career, I plan to be a physiotherapist. »

“On a desire to enjoy life”

Hélène, nurse in the clinic, walks with her daughter Marilou, whose school is closed due to the mobilization:“She is as concerned as we are”,she explains. The paramedic, already in the breach on January 19, does not plan to stop there:“I managed to organize myself to go on strike and motivate more colleagues than last time, even if we cannot leave the patients in the lurch. I made a simulation: I will be able to retire at full rate at 68 years old when I started my career at 25 years old”she smiled bitterly.

With her “We are not Michel” sign, adorned with a photo of Michel Drucker, Wided, 32, an educational engineer at the university, signals that she is not ready to work as late as illustrious television presenter.We, on a desire to enjoy life. I saw my parents arrive at retirement very tired”, she says. For his colleague Louise, this question is transgenerational.“My father and mother, who were very committed, died at 62 and 58. I am a volunteer in the associative environment, which is partly thanks to retirees. What will we do in the future if working life gets longer? »