Social movement against the pension reform in France

Program

Presentation and discussion

From January to June, a movement against the pension’s reform in France has rally a lot of people in various fields: extended strikes in refineries and refuse collectors, ring road, ports and high-school blockages, Universities’ occupations, free tolls, wildcat demos… The movement spread throughout the entire France, even to the smallest towns. It was unheard of since the ‘gilets jaunes’ movement in 2019. Because the movement lost its strength recently, it is important to understand what happened and what is still alive despite the end of big demos and the beginning of repression. Keeping a movement alive comes with sharing an experience, analysis and perspectives internationally.

The aim of this discussion is to discuss interventions from the outlook of people who tried to intervene in this movement and know very well there is not one way of doing things. That the ways of taking actions are multiples, heterogeneous, not necessarily exclusive but sometimes come into conflicts. The discussion will be accompanied by a brochure compiling various texts written during the movement (leaflets, posters, analysis texts, etc.) and a special section about Sainte Soline.

We will try to talk about the different phases and new and old practices that emerged over the course of the movement, their limits, the different interventions and the different conflicts (against the unions and the movements’ leadership) that took place during those months in France. The aim is not just to take stock or give an exhaustive account of this episode of struggle, but to draw ideas and future perspectives with comrades from all over the world.

Presentation by some French comrades