This Wednesday, March 8, the social movement against pension reform joined in the defense of women’s rights. Despite smaller crowds at the 150 protests, thousands rallied.
[Updated on March 8, 2023 at 8:09 p.m.] To the demonstrations against the pension reform were added the mobilizations for the defense of women’s rights, this March 8, 2023. Unions and feminist associations have often converged their fight on this day international women’s rights. An initiative not so surprising because many are the voices which, since the beginning of the protest against the bill, denounce new injustices against women. This second day of demonstration in a row, however, was less successful than the day before with 13,500 people in the procession of Paris behind the three unions (CGT, FSU and Solidaires) and the 45 associations which called for the “feminist strike” , according to the police headquarters. The police counted 7,500 demonstrators in Toulouse, 4,000 in Lille and several hundred, even thousands, in other large cities such as Brest or Marseille, reports Le Monde. In total, 150 demonstrations were organized throughout France.
A success for the “feminist strike”? Not quite. The collective wanted to make “March 8, 2023 that of the withdrawal of this new major social regression reform” considered “violent and unfair” for women. But the objective is achieved in terms of “demonstrating against wage inequalities, domestic violence but also for the freedom to dispose of one’s body”.
Several unions, including Solidaires, had called for “participating in feminist unitary initiatives and demonstrations, as well as inter-union actions that may be added, to highlight the injustice and specific inequalities that women suffer with this pension reform project” . Thus, here is the map of the main parades organized this Wednesday, March 8, whose gathering places have been listed on the grevefeministe.fr site:
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According to the site grevefeministe.fr, which launched the call, the pension reform project is a casus belli. “In France, the government is once again attacking women head-on with a pension reform that will hit them hard. At the heart of the fight against this reform, March 8 is an opportunity to highlight the scene the situation and the demands of women and to amplify the mobilization”, it is claimed. Thus, are planned throughout France today processions for women’s rights and against pension reform.
This Wednesday, the demonstrations did not have the same weight as those organized directly by the inter-union and mobilized significantly fewer people in the streets, including in Paris where the most important processions are always expected. On March 8, the Parisian demonstration started from Place de la République to go to Nation.
Despite the smaller crowds, the social protest against the pension reform continued, including strikes in many sectors: strike at the SNCF, in the public transport networks of several cities in France, in schools, airports, ports and refineries. To find out more, see our article dedicated to the social movement of this Wednesday, March 8.
