Pension reform: the strike continues and protests continue

The executive is under pressure. The mobilization on pensions settles in the long term to try to bend the government, with public transport very disrupted this weekend and Monday, before a new showdown Tuesday and detailed presentation of the reform the next day.

Meeting on Saturday, the first three unions of railway workers called to amplify the mobilization against the project of "universal system" pension points, which must ring the end of the current 42 devices, including the special regime of the SNCF.

"We call (...) the strengthening of the movement from Monday to realize well with the government, we want the withdrawal of its project by points," said Laurent Brun, Secretary General of the CGT-Cheminots.

Traffic difficulties on the SNCF and RATP networks

"Once again, the calendar is upset but nothing changes in the government's goal: to break our ...

Only 15% of Transiliens (RER, SNCF and commuter trains), a TGV on six and a TER on ten (mainly by bus) are insured Saturday. Nine lines of the Paris metro are closed. Traffic will remain heavily reduced Sunday on the networks of the SNCF and the RATP.

The SNCF even recommended users to avoid the Transiliens Monday, the expected affluence in the stations of Ile-de-France announcing "very dangerous" for the safety of travelers.

⚠️ On Monday, the number of trains in IDF will not accommodate the usual number of customers: max 4 trains / h on some RER instead of 20 trains / h. The affluence in the station will be very dangerous. SNCF asks those who can to cancel their trips. pic.twitter.com/YqyZQhH7Nd

In the face of this mobilization, Édouard Philippe promised Friday, of the steps of Matignon, that he would deliver next Wednesday, within the precincts of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) dear to the social partners, "the entirety of the project of the government ".

Towards a third day of events?

For its part, the CGT, whose voices are already campaigning for a third day of mobilization next Thursday, stands on its positions. "The calendar is upset but nothing changes in the government's goal: to break our solidarity pension plan and replace it with an individualized system where each and everyone will lose," regretted the trade union organization.

A new inter-union meeting was also scheduled Tuesday night by the organizations of employees (CGT, FO, Solidaires, FSU) and youth movements called for action on December 5 and 10.

"We know very well that it is not a single day that will suffice," said Céline Verzeletti, confederal secretary of the CGT, calling on the government to "make a sign and a strong gesture", withdrawing its project, so to open "negotiations".

In the wake of the December 5th strike, Édouard Philippe took care to say that he was not "in a logic of confrontation", as if to move away from his mentor Alain Juppé, version 1995.

A second day of mobilization, Saturday

Before the announcements of the Prime Minister, Solidarity Minister Agnès Buzyn and High Commissioner Jean-Paul Delevoye will present Monday the conclusions of the dialogue revived in September by the government.

But this announcement failed to calm the anger of the protesters. Opponents of the project of "universal system", who fear a "casualization" of the retirees of tomorrow, once again beat the pavement Saturday in several cities in the region. In the West, prefectures included 400 demonstrators in Lorient, less than 500 in Laval, 300 in Saint-Nazaire.

>> To read: Strike of December 5: the reasons for the mobilization against the pension reform

At the beginning of the afternoon, a demonstration in Montparnasse, in Paris, against unemployment and precariousness, traditionally organized every first Saturday of December, echoed the social movement in progress. "The point retirement is no," reads a large red sign.

In addition, hundreds of "yellow vests", who supported the protest, left in procession from Bercy, for their 56th Saturday mobilization. In their ranks were CGT militants, an AFP journalist said.

The government has several homes to extinguish, and not only on the special schemes, for which Edward Philippe has promised "progressive transitions" to the future system.

In particular, it must address the concerns of teachers, who fear that their pensions will fall with the new rules of calculation. To avoid this, the Prime Minister committed to a "gradual revaluation" of their treatment.

With AFP