“Down with the Fifth Republic!” “Louis XVI, Louis XVI, we beheaded him. Macron, Macron, let’s do it again! “And we too will break France!” “These angry slogans, accompanied by whistles, clinking of pans and throwing of eggs and stones, Emmanuel Macron heard only the muffled echo, this Thursday morning, from the public college Louise-Michel, in Ganges (4,000 inhabitants), in Hérault, where he had come to talk about education and raising teachers’ salaries with the Minister of Education, Pap Ndiaye.
With teachers, parents and students in Ganges in the Hérault. https://t.co/XNu3m4T5cs
A few scuffles took place in the morning: around 10 a.m., the gendarmes used tear gas to push back demonstrators who were trying to force their way through. They were met with stone throws in return, but did not charge the crowd.
Images of protesters waiting for Emmanuel Macron in Ganges, Hérault pic.twitter.com/vg0e4bV049
Among the demonstrators: Lio, 34, ex-midwife at the local maternity hospital, and now practicing as a liberal. “If there is no more maternity, young couples will no longer come to settle in the region”, regrets the caregiver. What does she expect from Emmanuel Macron? ” Nothing. Let him go. His 72-year-old mother, a former nurse, happily knocks on a lid to express her anger. She blames the “elites gorging themselves while we the people are going to have to work two more years.”
Many teachers among the protesters. Élise, 38, a math teacher in a college in a priority education district in Béziers, and a Communist Party activist, does not believe in the promised increases. “Our first problem is the overwork. That’s not going to increase the number of teachers. »
“He doesn’t want to hear from us. But I will continue to fight until my last breath”, swears Nathalie, technician in a factory in Alès and activist at the CGT. Dodging the demonstrators, who had blocked the road between Ganges and Montpellier, Emmanuel Macron then spun towards Pérols, a suburban town near Montpellier. For a surprise wandering which allowed him to display the image of a president in contact with much less hostile French people.
