Toulouse: torchlight march against pension reform
A torchlight march against the government’s pension reform project brought together a few hundred people on Thursday evening in the center of Toulouse, an AFP journalist revealed.
“Retirement at 60, we fought to win it, we will fight to keep it!”, sang, to the sound of a brass band, demonstrators, torches in hand, in the middle of the flags of Solidaires 31 or the FSU. These two organizations, which had called for this march, are calling for the restoration of the minimum retirement age to 60, while the government project raises it from the current 62 to 64.
For Nassera Si Ali, 49, “the uniform increase in working time for all” will “reduce the life expectancy of people who perform arduous jobs”.
“I am the daughter of a worker, I remember workers who died when they retired. Their bodies gave way,” she underlines.
“Every five years, we get a reform that will further push back the retirement age. After a while, it disgusts me,” said Paul Aptel, 24.
“The pay-as-you-go pension system is not in danger. We are being hammered to reform it to protect it, except that it is surplus,” he continues.