A CGT flag during a demonstration in Paris in February 2020. -

ALAIN JOCARD / AFP

Calls to strike and demonstrations… The CGT, Solidaires and the FSU open the union re-entry this Thursday, with protests planned across France.

They are demonstrating against job cuts and demanding wage increases in this time of crisis.

"It is difficult to be heard but it has never been so necessary", underlines to AFP Benoît Teste, secretary general of the FSU, for whom it is "important" to "not let the idea that demonstrating would go against national unity ”.

Covid obliges, the organizers do not expect a strong attendance, but deem this “first” call necessary to allow employees to “get together”, after months of restrictions linked to the coronavirus.

345 job protection plans as of August 30

“As soon as there is a problem, we lay off first, and we think afterwards.

We are proposing to think first and after to take measures according to the realities, "said Saturday on RTL Philippe Martinez, number one of the CGT, who sees this Thursday as an opportunity for employees to" defend themselves ".

In recent weeks, announcements of social plans or restructuring have multiplied: from the furniture brand Alinéa via Nokia, BFMTV / RMC or even on Wednesday the announcement of the closure of the Bridgestone factory in Béthune (Pas- de-Calais) which employs 863 people.

As of August 30, 345 job protection plans (PSE), representing up to 51,000 jobs, had been identified since March, against 231 over the same period last year.

A recovery plan that disappointed

The secretary general of the CGT had launched his call for mobilization on July 9, nearly two months before the announcement of a recovery plan of 100 billion euros, which disappointed the unions by its "absence" of counterparts for companies and measures for “second line” employees during the health crisis.

This plan, "announced with great fanfare, is only intended for companies, which will be able to benefit in particular from an exemption from production taxes of up to 10 billion euros per year and without any conditions or consideration", regret the CGT, the FSU, Solidaires and the youth organizations Fidl, MNL, Unef and UNL, organizers of the mobilization.

More than a hundred rallies / demonstrations are organized during the day, according to the CGT, with the slogan "Mobilized for another future".

Among the demands: wage increases, “definitive” abandonment of pension reforms and unemployment insurance, reduction of working time “without loss of wages”, increase in the minimum wage… In Paris, the demonstration will start at 2:00 pm. Republic, Nation direction.

Very limited impact

The ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people remains in force to prevent the spread of the virus but the authorities have so far turned a blind eye to the overruns, both for the “yellow vests” demonstrations on September 12, and for the mobilizations of hospital staff in June-July, which had brought together tens of thousands of people.

“We will do everything to ensure that barrier gestures are applied, with the wearing of a mask and distancing.

It is also important that the police have the correct instructions so that there is no movement of the crowd, ”explains Céline Verzeletti, CGT manager.

Strike notices have been filed with SNCF and RATP but almost a year to the day after a very followed call in the Paris metro against the pension reform, the situation may turn out to be significantly different.

The rail group is forecasting generally normal traffic, while the RATP has predicted a movement which will have "no impact".

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