The very controversial government bill is currently being debated by senators, while new massive mobilizations are announced from Tuesday, March 7.
After the break of the winter holidays, the mobilizations against the pension reform will resume with a vengeance. The unions are organizing a new day of mobilization which promises to be very popular on Tuesday March 7, especially in transport. They also call, from this date, for renewable strikes in several sectors. At the same time, the senators will in turn debate the bill for nearly two weeks at the Luxembourg Palace.
Franceinfo goes back in detail to the highlights of the beginning of March around the highly contested reform wanted by the executive.
From March 2: senators debate the text in the hemicycle
After the first round in the National Assembly which ended without a vote and in an electric atmosphere, it is the turn of the senators to look into pension reform. The elected officials of the upper house completed Tuesday, February 28 the examination of the bill in committee. Several amendments were retained, in particular in favor of mothers and the employment of seniors, as desired by the right, the majority in the Senate. The executive has thus largely reached out to LR senators, in the hope of obtaining a smooth adoption at the Luxembourg Palace.
A highly probable hypothesis since the senatorial right, in favor of this pension reform, has been voting for several years an amendment to the social security finance bill which provides for raising the retirement age to 64 years. A measure that is at the heart of the executive’s bill.
From Thursday March 2, the senators examine the text in the hemicycle. Constrained by the restricted deadlines imposed by article 47.1 of the Constitution (used by the government within the framework of an amending budget for Social Security), elected officials have until March 13 at midnight to debate and vote on the text.
Then, place at the Joint Joint Committee (CMP), which brings together seven senators and seven deputies. This CMP, representative of the composition of the two chambers and therefore favorable to the government allied to the right, will be responsible for finding an agreement on the text before a final reading in the National Assembly. If, at the end of the parliamentary shuttle and the time limit of 50 days, the bill is not passed, the government will then be able to legislate by ordinances, from March 28.
From March 6: the CGT calls for a renewable strike in refineries
According to the announced calendar, the refineries will open the ball of blockages. The CGT Chemistry Federation (Fnic-CGT), which includes refineries in particular, is calling for a renewable strike from Monday evening March 6. “Refining is included in it, the petrochemical industry, the pharmaceutical industries, rubber, plastics”told AFP Eric Sellini, CGT coordinator for the TotalEnergies group.
Tuesday March 7: a day of mobilizations and national strikes
“March 7 must be a real dead day in businesses, administrations, services, shops, schools, places of study, transport”, warned at a press conference Catherine Perret, confederal secretary of the CGT in charge of pensions. “Yes, we will go as far as stopping the country, blocking the country on March 7th”also promised Monday on franceinfo Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the Communist Party (PCF).
For her part, the Prime Minister called “to responsibility”. “We can oppose, we can strike, especially on the 7th”, admitted Elisabeth Borne, traveling to the Paris Agricultural Show. But she asked that “everyone takes into account the need for French men and women to travel”.
In transport precisely, the day promises to be very disrupted, even if we do not yet know the traffic forecasts. All SNCF unions are thus calling for a renewable strike from next Tuesday. IAll of the trade union organizations representing the RATP have also called for a movement that can be renewed from this date.
Another sector on strike on March 7: platform deliverers. “Faced with remarks disconnected from all reality, the CGT Transports calls on delivery people to organize themselves to decide on their demands in order to bring them to fruition, and to mobilize from March 7, by stopping work and expression”, wrote in a press release the CGT Transports, the second union among the deliverers. The garbage collectors are also called by their CGT federation to go on strike renewable from next Tuesday.
On the national education side, the intersyndicale, which brings together the seven main unions, calls in a press release, “that the massive strikes make it possible to completely close schools, colleges, high schools and services”, March 7.
From March 7: a movement called to register in the long term
Many trades, such as railway workers, oil tankers, dockers and electricians, are calling for the movement to continue after March 7. The national education unions invite in particular “staff to mobilize on March 8, the international day of struggle for women’s rights, to denounce the major social injustice of this pension reform against women.”
The CGT is considering the continuation of the mobilizations “in various forms”. “I trust the imagination of employees to act the way they want, but every day, in a renewable way”, assured Philippe Martinez Wednesday on France Culture. “There are also private companies, particularly in the food industry”, said the union leader. The employees plan “one to two hours of strike every day” or “gatherings” in front of their buildings.
“I think we will have a difficult time, at the beginning of March, and maybe after the 7“, recognized on Saturday the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, on France Inter. The government spokesman, Olivier Véran, warned him on Wednesday that “putting France on hold would be adding to an already hefty bill.”