A demonstration of the CGT, illustration -

ACCORSINI JEANNE / SIPA P / SIPA

Without harboring any illusions about the extent of participation at a time of possible confinement, the CGT is organizing, this Thursday, with the FSU, Solidaires and youth organizations a day of interprofessional mobilization.

The goal ?

Occupy the social field and set a date for the future.

A demonstration will start at 2 p.m. from Place de la République to join Nation.

On September 17, during the previous day of mobilization, 42,500 people marched in France, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

In Paris, 10,000 people according to the organizers and 4,800 according to the police had paraded peacefully on the same route.

Sanofi in the sights of the CGT

The watchword of Thursday, the defense of employment and public services, while "not a day goes by without a new announcement of a plan for job cuts, business closures or restructuring and service reductions ”, underline the organizers in a press release.

In fact, the number of layoffs has exploded with the health crisis linked to Covid-19: the statistics department of the Ministry of Labor (Dares) counted in January 84,130 breaches of employment contracts envisaged as part of plans to safeguard the employment (PSE), against 30,562 over the same period in 2019.

The CGT and its partners are notably asking for a policy of “industrial relocation”, the “development of public services”, the ban on layoffs in companies benefiting from public aid “especially when they continue to generate profits”, explains Céline. Verzeletti, confederal leader of the CGT.

Among the most salient examples of PSE, that of Sanofi, where 364 jobs are to be cut within the Sanofi-Aventis Research and Development entity, according to the unions.

CGT Secretary General Philippe Martinez will go to a rally at 9:30 am in front of the group's site in Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne).

A rally will then be organized in front of the group's headquarters in Paris from 11 a.m., in the presence of LFI deputy François Ruffin.

Fear of violence

Between 70 and 80 meeting places are planned in France, less than the hundred usually listed, according to Céline Verzeletti.

"It will not be a day that can be massive," she concedes.

Some departmental federations have given up on organizing parades, anticipating a low participation while the prospect of a third confinement is in everyone's mind.

They provide for other local actions, such as virtual “hiring offices” in front of companies.

For their part, SNCF and RATP said they expected normal traffic on their networks on Thursday.

Fear of violence, such as that which has punctuated demonstrations against the comprehensive security law, can also put off participants.

According to Céline Verzeletti, an appeal has been launched with organizations to expand the order service of the demonstration and allow everyone to parade "without being violated and without being arrested".

Asked to join the movement, Force Ouvrière declined.

"I am not convinced that the conditions are met today" for a large-scale mobilization, underlined its secretary general, Yves Veyrier.

Never mind, "we could not do nothing," says Céline Verzeletti.

" Snowball "

For the union leader, the challenge is to “recreate a dynamic (…) of struggle and mobilization”, to re-establish links with union representatives and employees, hoping that this will “snowball” and lead to a large-scale mobilization at the time of the lifting of health restrictions.

Asked Sunday on RTL, the secretary general of the CGT Philippe Martinez said "wish (r)" a social spring.

Already, "social anger is there", "concern, it is expressed", he said.

The month of January was punctuated by several sectoral mobilizations, with some success according to the unions: health professionals on the 21st, from the National Education on the 26th, from the energy sector on the 28th. After the "astonishment" of the last month, Céline Verzeletti says she is "convinced that there will be strong mobilizations" when we have found "the freedom to act and move."

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