The fine rain that falls on Bastia this Wednesday May 1 does not dampen the ardor of the activists. It’s to the sound of The ecstasy of golda title from the soundtrack of Good, the bad and the uglyby Ennio Morricone, that they set off, from the Simon-Vinciguerra college, towards the prefecture, passing through Boulevard Paoli.
There are a little over a hundred of them parading, flag, sprig of lily of the valley, protest banner and umbrella in hand. “ I’ve been coming since I was 18, specifies Marie-Jo, a teacher who has been retired for a year. I didn’t miss much of the May Day parades. » Like her friends and former colleagues, she participates in this traditional walk which had its Source in the United States in 1886, and which arrived in France four years later.
The main unions (FO, CGT, UNSA) and the Corsican Communist Party also participate. Just like the young Maoists, a movement created on the island last June, and which marched for the first time, in the name of their collective, on the occasion of this Labor Day.
Young people that everyone is happy to see in this procession. Firstly, François Giudicelli, regional secretary of the UNSA: “ We want to ensure that young people are present. We must not wait for them, we must contact them, discuss and show them the usefulness of unions. Also remind them that we are here to defend their future salaries. »
“A degraded social situation, particularly in Corsica”
François Giudicelli also recalls that education suffers from a lack of appreciation and respect and that it is confronted, more and more often, with security problems: “ There are middle schools or high schools where everyone fits into a mill. »
A little further on, Michel Stefani, regional secretary of the Communist Party in Corsica, prefers to emphasize the success of this demonstration, despite the bad weather: “ We are satisfied with the mobilization for this workers day of struggle and for the defense of social rights. »
It also reminds us how the social situation is degraded, particularly in Corsica, with very low salaries added to the cost of living.
He does not forget the threats weighing on the public service of territorial continuity in both air and sea, a system called into question by European law. He finally has a thought for the 1,300 employees of the group Giant-Casino who do not know what their future will hold. ” It is for all these reasons that these mobilizations are important. We are next to the workers “insists Michel Stefani before joining the procession.
Celebrate the “National Solidarity Day”
All flags brandished, around sixty of them gathered in front of the Corsican prefecture in Ajaccio, to celebrate May 1st. Banners in union colors of course, those of the CGT, which had the most representatives, of the UNSA or the FSU, but also of political parties like LFI, the PCF and the association the League of Human Rights. ‘Man.
Handmade lily of the valley sprigsactivists and supporters gathered to celebrate “a national solidarity day and the “only paid day off in France”. But also to reaffirm their vigilance regarding the reform of unemployment insurance and their attachment to the Palestinian cause.
