Immersion before the legislative elections: “Politics is moving away from us and we are moving away from politics”, in Rodez, the disenchantment

Autour du musée Soulages, parler politique dans le jardin du Foirail. Midi Libre – S.G.

Dans une préfecture de l’Aveyron passée au RN aux élections européennes, un coup de tonnerre, des électeurs ont déjà tourné la page : ils votent, sans y croire.

Two out of three adults in the middle class, unemployment at 4.5%, well below the national average, a “capital", Rodez, in the top ten French cities where  it is "good to live" (according to the Journal du Dimanche), as in the top 10 least expensive cities in France. "Hospitality", wrote good souls in capitals on one of the numerous works of art which line the A75, upstream of the Millau viaduct, pride of Aveyron. And also "Resists".

In this between two elections, after the thunderbolt European elections which placed the RN in the lead for the first time in the department, before uncertain legislative elections, the minds are not in good business for the first days of sales. At the Solidarité commercial park as elsewhere. "Ah well it’s the sales ?"Jeanine Chauvet, 68 years old, a "small pension a little above the minimum wage" after 36 years in a factory and “seven years working in a nursing home”, steps forward with determination to the entrance of Leclerc.

She no longer believes in politicians, “in lowering VAT, petrol, gas and all that”, to increase her purchasing power, “to zero”: “All fine words, one as much as the other, they don't know what it's like to live on minimum wage”, says the sixty-year-old, who has remained a tenant because “we can't afford property tax anymore”, who prefers to go to the markets to do her shopping, “not green beans which are 11 euros at the moment”.

"I don't know who I'm going to vote for", she assures. "You put them all in the same envelope and you let them fight together", advises the friend who accompanies her. "In France, we decline", are sad both.

"We are consistent in our daily actions, militant in our own way"

Politics, Sarah and Cédric (borrowed first names), two decent salaries and three children, seated as a family at a restaurant on Place du Foirail, a stone's throw from the Soulages museum, "n’don't believe in it so much anymore"."I have the impression that politics has moved away from us and that we are moving away from politics. We are over-manipulated. We are becoming apolitical, we are not the only ones", notes Sarah.

They too "are careful", but are attached to & quot;maintain their quality of life", "in accordance with our values", "we continue to move forward, and we tries to be consistent in our daily actions, we are activists in our own way. With permanent trade-offs: eating in restaurants, building an environmentally virtuous house, buying directly from producers… hellip; and drive in a car with 200,000 km on the odometer.

"What can they do ? I don't see. There is always a lobby that blocks, notes Cédric, who grew up with "a mother and two grandfathers municipal councillors". "I remember the discussions we had, there were debates at that time".

"When I arrived four years ago, I was the king of oil"

For Sarah, "the most disturbing thing is the way they let everything related to education slide, we talk about the dangers of cell phones , but what do we do ?" For the couple "who will vote"  Sunday, the French "became very docile". They point out that the price of gasoline is breaking record after record. The Yellow Vests revolted for less than that in the fall of 2018.

Sacha Lopez and Vivien Barrès, bookseller and adapted physical activity teacher: “Through their little sentences, we see that politicians are not at all aware of what people are going through.” Midi Libre – S.G.

"Generally speaking, politicians are disconnected from our realities",notes Vivien Barrès, 30, teacher of adapted physical activity. Like Sacha Lopez, bookseller, he also has the feeling that "politicians don't know at all what people are going through", by force to navigate with "little sentences about violence or immigration".

They are "lucky to live in a cheap city". Without children and single, they escape "the famous "end of the month"". "I've lived here four years, when I arrived, I was the king of oil",remembers Sacha Lopez. “I should have voted” in the European elections, he regrets. With Vivien, he is one of the 1.3 million French people who have made a proxy for next Sunday.

Constance Bounhol and Marianne Ghawche, 18 years old: “I don't feel like there's a lot of stuff for young people”. Midi Libre – S.G.

Feeling represented

Constance Bounhol and Marianne Ghawche, 18 years old, students in Toulouse, will also vote, after putting a ballot in the ballot box for the first time at the beginning of the month. Constance, in law school, was also an assessor. In a campaign that "talks too much about extremes", they have difficulty "feeling& nbsp;represented, we do not find ourselves there. "It’s stressful, it’s complicated to make a choice", testifies Marianne.

"Our teachers make us aware of all the manipulation techniques", further specifies Constance Bounhol, who sees friends from ;rsquo;a class visited this year by politicians from all sides, François Hollande, Jean Castex, Aurélien Pradié, Agnès Buzyn… being tricked on social networks. "The candidates post measures that speak to us, but completely out of context".< /em>

And young people "let themselves be baited".

Cédric Belledent (Sud), Sandra Marty-Gardé and Lionel Issalys (CFE-CGC): “It will be complicated to take our file to the next minister”. Midi Libre – S.G.

At Bosch, “we went from disillusionment to disillusionment, we no longer believe in it”

On the walls of the premises of the CFE-CGC, Bosch's second union, in Onet-le-Château, photos of Emmanuel Macron, Minister of the Economy of François Hollande, visiting the site, < em>"one month before he announced his candidacy for the presidential election", remember Lionel Issalys and Sandra Marty Gardé, representatives of the second Bosch union, behind South, in front of the CGT.

Macron, again, with a t-shirt "Yes to the Crit’Air 1 sticker for diesel", in 2019, before the debate organized in Rodez on the reform of retirements. "Macron killed us", continues the union, classified on the right, which no longer believes in the promises of politicians.

Those of the current president and others. François Hollande, who also came to the scene, Carole Delga, president of the Region, the mayor of Rodez, the deputies…

The history of Bosch, quite a symbol. The emblem of the city, like IBM for Montpellier, has become a shaky industrial base in a town bordering Rodez, Onet-le-Château, where fifteen different nationalities live and which also voted RN in the European elections. The factory had up to 2,100 employees and 300 temporary workers at its peak, in 2001-2002, the unions point out. It will reach 500 people in 2025, there are 700 today.

“We have understood everything”

The announcement of the shutdown of thermal engines condemns the site, devoted exclusively to the equipment of diesel vehicles. And the promise of a possible reconversion to hydrogen did not materialize.

"We can only have a good surprise with these elections, we no longer believe in anything", announcement Lionel Issalys, circumspect. The generous voluntary departure plans proposed by the German company, combined with empty promises from politicians, have plunged the site into sluggishness. "The last big strike was in 2018", calculates Cédric Belledent (South, listed on the left), secretary of the CSE.

For him, if the elections can change the situation, it is to accelerate the disinvestment of the Germans: "If we start to tax the companies that make super profits…"Trade unionists also imagine how in between the two rounds, Jordan Bardella, in search of a symbol, could pose here in front of the cameras: the RN program maintains the vagueness on the end of thermal vehicles.

"We have seen it, policies, messages of support, hours and hours of discussions, back and forths in the ministries in Paris& ;quot;, remembers Lionel Issalys, who has since seen "the faces turn away" when he accidentally meets someone on a TGV.

"We understood everything when Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Secretary of State to the Minister of the Economy then Deputy Minister in charge of Industry from 2018 to 2022, became Minister of the Energy Transition. She seemed attentive, she told us that our file was stuck at the Ministry of Energy Transition. When she was appointed there, she became unreachable.

None of the European candidates responded to the letter from the inter-union sent ahead of the elections. "We have not renewed the approach for the legislative elections… there, the ministers will change again, we will have to redo history, it will be complicated to have a file. But honestly, we don't believe in it anymore. We have our micro-reality, politicians have their “macro” vision. We went from disillusionment to disillusionment. We don't expect anything, it's unfortunate but the train passed when they had the power to legislate on hydrogen, they didn't do it. In twenty years, we have destroyed 1,500 jobs and they have done nothing for us", notes bitterly the CFE-CGC.

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