EDITORIAL
A new strike is scheduled for December 5th. A dozen trade unions, including the CGT and FO and four youth organizations called on Wednesday, a day of strike on December 5. "An admission of weakness" of the unions estimates our editorialist, Nicolas Beytout.
"This is what is called in the trade union jargon an" interprofessional "strike, not to be confused with the" general "strike which is the ultimate weapon in the gradation of threats: the one where the whole country is However, December 5 may well be a difficult day: 4 unions, including the CGT and FO, 4 youth organizations including the UNEF, will join the strike already scheduled by the RATP and the SNCF This is a serious threat, and finally, apparently.
Ostensibly ? This is not so worrying as that?
Effectively. I even think that this call for the December 5th strike is an admission of weakness. For two reasons. The first is that it lacks an ally of weight, in this inter-union. It is simply missing the one that has become the first union in the country: the CFDT, which will not join the strike. The CFDT supports the reform in principle, and in particular the establishment of what is called a point system that allows everyone to obtain the same rights for each euro contributed.
This means that unions can already say goodbye to unity of action. During the last major pension reform, that of Sarkozy-Fillon in 2010, all the unions were mobilized. There had been 10 major leagues in a row for more than a million participants from the beginning, according to the unions. This year, the first parades gathered 15,000 protesters FO and 150,000 CGT. We are far removed from the scores of 9 years ago, which, incidentally, should not be forgotten.
You said there are 2 reasons to relativize the threat of unions ...
Yes, the second is that they chose to hang on to the already planned strike of RATP and SNCF. They will use it as a lever that will amplify their action and blur the real perception of this day. Moreover, the inter-union, the CGT and FO in particular, will be limited to a day of action while the RATP promises an unlimited strike. It is there, the real threat to the government, not so much in the day of December 5 but rather in the following ones. Basically, it's again a problem of special diets.
And it is probably to defuse this that the government is showing signs of openness. With a risk, of course: that this reform made in the name of equality is transformed once again into a duped market for employees of the general system. "