Eight unions (CGT, CFDT, CFE-CGC, Fédération Autonome, FO, UNSA, Solidaires, Snes-FSU) are calling on the approximately 5.7 million public sector agents to strike on Tuesday, March 19, to demand an increase in wages and better working conditions in the state, territorial and hospital civil service. At midday, the Ministry of National Education recorded 8.8% of teachers on strike on average. In schools, the ministry announces an average rate of striking teachers of 6.77%, 14.86% in middle schools, and 6.96% in general and technological high schools. Follow our live stream.
“The school is on the verge of collapse,” warns the FSU union. The general secretary of the Unitary Trade Union Federation, Benoît Teste, estimated Tuesday morning on France Culture that “missing school[ait] everything, starting with decent and decent salaries”. There “recruitment crisis”, linked to “remuneration conditions”, explains it “lack of replacements” observed in numerous establishments and contributes, ultimately, to “deteriorating working conditions”, he laments.
Demonstration at the beginning of the afternoon in Paris. The Parisian procession will set off from the outskirts of the Luxembourg Gardens around 2 p.m. and will head towards the ministerial district in the 7th arrondissement of the capital. The leaders of the CFDT, Marylise Léon, the CGT, Sophie Binet, and Force Ouvrière, Frédéric Souillot, will be present. Gatherings are planned from Tuesday morning in front of many prefectures and sub-prefectures, such as in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique), Besançon (Doubs) or Cambrai (North)
A continued movement? Despite rare inter-union unity in the call for mobilization, representative organizations expect lower percentages of strikers than during the demonstrations against pension reform in early 2023, which mobilized 15% to 30% of strikers according to the sectors.