Defeated struggles leave a bitter taste. How can anyone expect a single day of protest to make a difference when 14 nationwide demonstrations in 2023 were not enough to stop the government's pension reform? During that movement, the Interior Ministry counted up to 1.28 million people on the streets in a single day, while the CGT, France's largest trade union, estimated the number at 3.5 million.

"I often hear people say, 'There were millions of us, but the government went ahead anyway.' The employees who took to the streets back then are discouraged," said Teddy Carvigant, a CGT representative on the social and economic committee at the Auchan Paris Est supermarket, where mass layoffs and store closures have led to grievances.

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