The “Stop CPE 06” group organized a protest on Tuesday, February 7, starting from the Nice SNCF train station. All opponents of the First Employment Contract (CPE) were invited. The goal: to force the government to eliminate the CPE.
H-1 before the protest. A small group of youths begins to form. As the minutes pass, their numbers grow. In no time, the SNCF station is packed with high school students. Inside, they welcome comrades who have come to reinforce from Cannes, Antibes, Saint-Raphaël, Vence, and Cagnes sur Mer. They are greeted with shouts and applause.
At 1:30 PM, there are already hundreds ready to protest. Alert and dynamic, the organizers get into place. Hélène Oliver, a third-year student at the Faculty of Letters and responsible at CIEL (Independent Collective of Students and High School Students), is forthright: “We are here to denounce certain absurdities. The CPE undermines labor rights. It’s worse than a fixed-term contract! At this rate, in two years, the government will eliminate the minimum wage! This is unacceptable! The CPE must be eliminated as it PRECARIATIZES the youth!” At 21, she knows what she wants. She hopes: “A lot of people need to turn out today for it to be effective.”
1:55 PM, the long-awaited moment is approaching! The impatience is too strong: the parade starts with cries of protest. Everywhere, banners and signs. The messages are clear: “CPE = Unemployment, Precarity, Exploitation”, “CPE = Gift For Exploiters”, etc. For Julien Peal Long, head of the UNEF, other solutions can replace this contested measure.
“Why not reform the professional integration system to better address the needs of the youth? Or organize a revamping of the scholarship system? Whatever the case, it is crucial to make our voices heard. The primary goal of the gathering: to drive the government to change action because according to this student, “such a contract destroys all social gains.” And to assert this, the protesters do not hide it. All in unison, they sing: “There was a little minister, there was a little minister… Who had ne-ne-never governed…,” “Villepin! Villepin, you’re screwed! All the high school students are in the street!”
The speeches give way to music. From Berurier Noir to Trust, passing through ACDC and Bob Marley, the atmosphere is at its peak throughout the parade. A parade of great scale! Between the high school students, university students, and salaried employees who came in support, the threshold of 4000 protesters seems reached, according to the unions. Slowly but surely, the procession reaches Boulevard Gambetta and then the Promenade des Anglais.
At the front, a political figure defends the opinions of the youth: Patrick Mottard, advocates for the reintroduction of the youth employment measure. According to him, a good springboard: “I am a professor at the Faculty of Letters. It does not make me happy to see students without guaranteed employment. The CPE will not improve this problem. Quite the contrary!”
More motivated than ever, all participants even engage in sit-down protests: twice, they sit down in the street, then get up to keep going with renewed energy!
Two hours of walking, two hours full of energy! Energy in their voices, energy in their determination! The procession ends with thanks, hopes, and applause.
With nearly 150 similar protests throughout France, this movement might influence the government side… It remains to see if it will have heard the call of French youth.
