The unions, which show their unity against the pension reform, call to put “France at a standstill” on March 7. A movement that they intend to extend after this date via renewable strikes in many sectors.
“Together, on March 7, let’s put France on hold.” So the slogan launched by the intersyndicalein view of the mobilization of Tuesday, March 7 against the government’s plan to reform pensions. “We are united and on March 7, we put France on hold”, summarized Marylise Léon, deputy general secretary of the CFDT, during a union meeting organized on March 2 in La Ricamarie (Loire). “ This goes through an unprecedented mobilization on March 7, I am counting on you to break the house and make it unforgettable”, she added.
In fact, the opponents of the pension reform intend to send a strong signal to the government which must extend beyond the mobilization of Tuesday. Many sectors are indeed called for a renewable strike. “After a few days of massive mobilization, the government will be forced to lay down its arms”, thus hopes Catherine Perret, confederal secretary of the CGT in charge of pensions and social protection. Transport, industries, education… Franceinfo takes stock of the different sectors that will be affected by the movement.
Many industries called to strike, refineries from Monday evening
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, [comme] petrochemical industry, pharmaceutical industries, rubber, plastics”Eric Sellini, CGT coordinator for the TotalEnergies group, told AFP. “The renewable strike will be effective in all French refineries, on all imports”also specified Emmanuel Lépine, secretary of the federation of chemistry.
In addition to the refiners, the representatives of the CGT federations of electricians, gas operators, railway workers, but also dockers, as well as glass and ceramics workers, called on these sectors on March 2 to “take it up a notch” in the mobilization against the pension reform and “bring France to a standstill” March 7. An announcement hailed by many left-wing politicians, like the Communist deputy, Fabien Roussel.
These different sectors are already looking beyond March 7. The secretary general of the CGT of electricians and gas workers, Sébastien Ménesplier, for example, promised “a black week in energy”with targeted cuts, blockages, occupations, and always “Robin Hood operations” aimed at the population. His ports and docks counterpart, Tony Hautbois, recalled that his organization represented “90% of dockworkers [et] 80% of ports”before announcing a day “dead ports” March 8.
Aeronautics, automotive, steel, the metallurgical giants, which represent some 1.5 million employees, are also called by the CGT to strike against the pension reform project on March 7. “Together, on March 7, let’s shut down metallurgy companies!”, claim in a joint press release the CGT unions of Thalès, Valéo, Stellantis, ArcelorMittal, Forvia, Airbus, Safran and Renault. In a statement on February 21, the branch’s CGT union called for a renewable strike.
Garbage collectors, platform deliverers… Several sectors join the strike
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. “The CGT federations of public services and transport call (…) in all companies, public establishments and communities to meet (…) to prepare for the strike in the sectors of waste and household waste collection, sorting and treatment of waste, from March 7 and until the withdrawal of the bill”, they announced in a joint press release.
Other federations which have not yet entered the dance could join the movement, such as CGT Commerce and CGT Construction. In an interview broadcast Wednesday on France Culture, the secretary general of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, planned major mobilizations in private companies, “especially in the food industry”.
A renewable strike on the rail, deletions already known for the air
All SNCF unions are calling to a renewable strike from Tuesday on. I’all of the union organizations representing the RATP have also called for a movement that can be extended from this date. “Expect no trains, and not a lot from the 7th”, promised Laurent Brun, for the CGT-Cheminots, during a meeting of representatives of the CGT federations, in Paris, on March 2. The traffic forecast for Tuesday should be known on Sunday.
In the aviation sector, the French Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) asked airlines on Thursday to give up part of their flights on Tuesday March 7 and Wednesday March 8 following a national strike notice, relayed by several air traffic controllers’ unions. .
The DGAC thus plans “disruptions and delays” and asked companies to reduce their flight schedule by 20% at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and 30% at Paris-Orly, Beauvais, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice and Toulouse.
In education, the staff called to strike on March 7 and 8
On the side of national education, the intersyndicale, which brings together the seven main unions, calls in a statement, dated February 14, “that the massive strikes make it possible to completely close schools, colleges, high schools and services”, March 7. ” She invites the staff to meet to discuss how we can succeed in making this government bend,” she specifies.
Moreover, “the inter-union calls on 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.”