In a context made inflammable by the strike in the refineries, and a few days before leaving on vacation, public and private employees are called on Tuesday, October 18 to stop work and demonstrate, for a rise in wages and against the requisitions of strikers.

Anxious to resolve the French fuel supply difficulties "as quickly as possible", Emmanuel Macron called a meeting at the Élysée on Monday afternoon.

"The President of the Republic appealed to everyone's spirit of responsibility and highlighted the unbearable consequences for those who suffer daily from this galley," said a participant in this meeting, on condition of anonymity.

Many sectors have filed strike calls for Tuesday: public service, energy, public transport, road, agri-food, trade, etc.

Some could move towards renewable strikes, like the railway workers who intend to take advantage of the window open until the All Saints holidays, Friday evening, to negotiate wage increases.

150 gatherings in France

In the oil industry, where the conflict started at the end of September, the strike should continue on Tuesday at TotalEnergies, in the refining and/or fuel depot teams.

Nearly 150 assembly points are planned in France, according to the CGT, which organizes this day with the FO, Solidaires and FSU unions and the youth organizations Fidl, MNL, Unef and High School Life.

The first trade union in France, the CFDT, on the other hand, decided to stay away from the movement, not believing in the effectiveness of major interprofessional demonstrations to obtain wage increases in companies.

In Paris, the demonstration will start at 2 p.m. from Place d'Italie, heading towards Place Vauban.

Another procession, to protest against the reform of vocational high schools, will march from the Saint-François-Xavier metro to the Sèvres-Babylone metro.

Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI group in the Assembly, will be present among the demonstrators, 48 ​​hours after the "March for expensive living" organized by the left-wing parties on Sunday in Paris.

The leader of LFI, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is expected at the assembly of railway workers to be held at 11 a.m. at Gare de Lyon.

The police anticipate 15,000 and 2,000 people respectively for the two Parisian demonstrations, and the authorities expect to see the "ultrayellow" and "ultraleft" trying to form a procession in front of the union square.

“Unacceptable” requisitions

The previous day of interprofessional mobilization, on September 29, brought together 118,500 people, including 13,500 in Paris according to the police (250,000 and 40,000 according to the organizers).

The participants will march for "the increase in wages and the defense of the right to strike", according to the terms of the inter-union press release published last week.

It is a question of supporting the demands of the employees of the oil branch, but more broadly of weighing to put this question on the agenda of the executive.

Guest of France Inter on Monday, Philippe Martinez suggested to the government to "get around a table" with the unions to "discuss an increase in the minimum wage, a sliding scale of salaries".

Another reason for discontent, which notably convinced Force Ouvrière to join the movement: the requisitions of strikers implemented by the government to facilitate the distribution of fuel.

"The requisition is unacceptable and it is never the right solution", explained its secretary general Frédéric Souillot on Public Senate Monday.

The prospect of a 49.3 vote to have the budget adopted in the Assembly, the coming toughening of the rules for unemployment benefits, the pension reform expected for the end of the year, are all ingredients that stir up anger social.

With AFP

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