The recent protests and strikes making the headlines are in Paris and other big cities, but people in more than 200 towns in France took to the streets on Tuesday to oppose President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform. In Compiègne – an imperial town some 90kms north of the capital, a tenth of the population came out to say "no".
Around 4,000 people turned out in the freezing cold on Tuesday for the third day of protests and strike action against Macron’s proposed pension reform, which is currently being debated in parliament.
“We will not give up, Mr Macron,” a female CGT trade union rep shouts into the loudspeaker as a long line of people amble through the picturesque, cobbled streets of Compiègne.
They march past the imposing 16th century town hall and then the castle which served as a centre for court life and power during the reign of Napoleon I and III.
A man in black carries a placard that reads: “Retirement in a camping car, not in a hearse.”
Teachers, students, nurses, factory workers, shopkeepers, retirees – the march has drawn people from different walks of life and social classes. But they're united in their opposition to raising the legal age of retirement by two years, to 64.
Three young female careworkers from the local hospital are leading the procession.
“Our working conditions are miserable and our pensions will be the same if we continue in this direction," says 30-year-old Jessica Collard.
"We sometimes have to lift patients weighing 130kgs," says her colleague Béatrice. "We can't take care of patients if we're not in good shape ourselves."
Isabelle, 54, works 40 kilometres away at Charles de Gaulle airport and has taken the day off to march alongside her daughter.
“I want to be able to enjoy my retirement and take care of my two grandchildren,” she says. "But that won't be possible under the reform. MPs, Macron, the government, they're all on a cloud, they're cut off."
Make the most of life
Teachers from Pierre d’Ailly high school are also demonstrating.
Their work may be less physical than the nurses but Luc, a 44-year-old history and geography teacher, is struggling to imagine doing his job at 67 when, under the reform, he would qualify for a full pension.
“I think there are other ways of financing pensions,” he says, adding that they are not against change per se.
"We're not necessarily here to support a kind of vision of the past. We are supporting a model of society in which we are not necessarily working for ages and ages."
"A good retirement - this is what we are striking for, protesting, demonstrating for!"
The demonstrators include people from the private sector too.
Marc Foucault, a white collar worker at the local Palmolive-Colgate plant carries a placard showing President Macron with a very long nose.
“In one of his speeches, in 2019, Macron said he wouldn’t touch the pension system, considered 62 was a good age to retire and lots of jobs were physically difficult.
"Now he's saying the opposite."
Striking is a legal right in France but it can be awkward for people to do so if their bosses are opposed.
Foucault said he “could afford” to lose a day’s pay and wanted to show solidarity with those who had physically more demanding jobs than him.
Wider than pensions
The protests have focused on pension reform, but they reflect wider concerns such as the cost of living as both households and businesses find themselves paying more for energy, petrol and food.
Jean-Louis Lambert, 70, retired eight years ago after running a taxi firm. Before that he worked for 26 years at the Continental tyre factory.
He admits to being "lucky" to have a monthly pension of €1,700, but wants the same for young people when they're his age.
"I'm here for the youngsters, so they can get what I got. With inflation, our pensions are being eaten into. Mine hasn’t gone up for those eight years,” he says
Losing pay
Given the economic context, it’s not easy for people to lose a day’s wages says Olivier Vaïty, a white collar worker at Decathlon sports chain and a union rep with the reformist CFDT union.
“I’m striking today for the third time. Many of my colleagues say they agree with us about the protests but can’t strike because it impacts their salaries too much," Vaïty says.
High school teacher Valerie Grillon has lost three days’ pay and it's beginning to weigh on the family budget.
“I lose 1/30th of my monthly salary, bonuses and overtime for each strike day,” she says. “It’s starting to weigh me down, but it’s necessary."
She says the reform "is not fair", citing how it will penalise women who have had breaks in their careers to raise children.
“The government says the reform will introduce a minimum pension of €1,200 a month, but most people, especially women, won't benefit," she argues, since it applies only to people who have had full careers.
Lower turnout
The turnout in Compiègne on Tuesday was lower than on the 31 January when more than 7,000 pepole took to the streets.
George du Rouchet, head of the local branch of the CGT, said they "expected the numbers would be down a bit, employees can't afford to lose a week of revenue in a month".
The fact school holidays are looming also contributed to lower numbers, the CGT said.
Nonetheless the last two demos marked a "huge" turnout for Compiègne.
The 31 January protest was "the biggest since 2009 when 17,000 took to the streets to oppose the closure of Continental tyre plant".
The unions are banking on bigger numbers on Saturday when the majority of people will not have to strike in order to protest.
