To “bring France to a halt” on March 7, the objective of the great day of mobilization against pension reform, the inter-union is counting on massive and even renewable strike movements…

The mobilization against the pension reform is preparing to "bring France to a halt"

The unions promise a “massive, unprecedented and unforgettable” movement from Tuesday March 7.

Text by: RFI Follow

5 mins

To “

bring France to a halt

” on March 7, the goal of the big day of mobilization against pension reform, the inter-union is counting on massive and even renewable strike movements in many sectors.

The inter-union promises a " massive, unprecedented and unforgettable

" movement

While the pension reform project

continues to be debated in the Senate

, the CGT intends to make March 7 a real dead day.

A way to harden the tone in the face of an executive who turns a deaf ear.

The CGT and Solidaires have already called for renewable strikes based on the growing unpopularity of the text among the population.

According to a poll earlier this month, 72% of French people oppose the bill, up from 66% in January.

In the transport sector, the circulation of trains in France will be "

very seriously disturbed

" on Tuesday, for the TGVs as for the TERs, and "

very disturbed

" in the metro and the RER in Ile-de-France, on the occasion of the sixth day of national strike against the pension reform project, according to the SNCF and the RATP.

On the Thalys side, "

traffic will be disrupted and all customers have been notified

", said a spokeswoman on Saturday evening.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has asked companies to reduce their flight schedules on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, by 20% at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and by 30% at Paris-Orly, Beauvais, Bordeaux , Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice and Toulouse.

Truck drivers also plan to join the movement, with some unions like Force Ouvrière-UNCP calling for mobilization from Sunday evening, with blockages of logistics platforms, industrial zones and snail operations around major cities from Monday morning.

“

There will be actions on roundabouts, on highways and roads.
But the goal is not to block the vehicles of the average Frenchman, but to block the stocks,

explains to RFI Patrice Clos, of the National Federation of Transport and Logistics - Force Ouvrière

.
If you block the trucks, you block the economy.

Targeted cuts, refineries blocked

The CGT also called for a renewable strike in the refineries, with the aim of "

blocking the entire economy

", at the level of the production, distribution and importation of fuel, according to the CGT-Chimie .

Another link, the refuellers or “

sky pumpers

”, responsible for supplying the planes, are also called to strike in airports throughout France.

The entire oil and chemical sector is called upon to strike, including in the pharmaceutical sector.

In this energy sector, the movement started on Friday afternoon at the call of the CGT.

By early Sunday afternoon, production cuts reached nearly 5,000 megawatts, the equivalent of five nuclear reactors.

The movement "

aims to extend

[...]

at least until 7 and at most until winning

," warned Sébastien Ménesplier, secretary general of the CGT Energy on Saturday.

He promised "

a black week in energy

", with targeted cuts, blockages, occupations, and always "

Robin Hood operations"

aimed at the population (such as the cutting of road radars).

In industry, the call for a strike in the whole of the metal industry and in particular among the giants of the sector: aeronautics, automobile and steel are all concerned by a strike that the branch union hopes to see renewed.

The CGT unions of Thales, Valeo, Stellantis, ArcelorMittal, Forvia, Airbus, Safran and Renault have notably called for action.

The various metalworking industries employ some 1.5 million workers.

In the agri-food sector, the CGT is calling on the big French sugar producers to shut down from Tuesday.

Blockages expected in high schools and faculties

As for education, the Snuipp-FSU, the first union of the first degree, will not give its strike forecasts for nursery and elementary schools until Monday.

Conversely, no figures expected for colleges and high schools, secondary school teachers not being required to declare themselves strikers 48 hours before.

However, the disturbances in all the establishments are expected to be strong.

The seven main teacher unions have indeed called for “

Totally close schools, colleges, high schools and services

” on March 7.

Sporadic blockages by high school students are also expected.

Ditto in the universities, where mobilization is struggling to take off.

Student and high school organizations have called for "

hardening the movement

" against the reform with a day of youth mobilization on March 9.

These blockages and strikes come after months and work of proposals from the unions which do not feel listened to by the government of Elisabeth Borne.

“

We made a lot of proposals, none of them were listened to by the government and in any case until the government listens

,” says Patricia Drevon, Confederal Secretary Force Ouvrière.

So today, we're toughening up the movement, we're clearly stepping up a notch

[…]

because it seems that the government, that's the only thing it's going to end up understanding.

Since they remain deaf and blind to 2 million people on the street at a given time, we have to move on

," adds trade unionist Patrice Clos

.
Because on March 26, it will be too late as the reform will be definitively adopted.

► Also to listen: Politics, the choice of the week - Pensions: how the left and environmentalists are trying to exist in the Senate

Media pass of arms between Philippe Martinez (CGT) and the Minister of Labor

“

We are moving up a gear

”, announces the secretary general of the CGT Philippe Martinez in the

Journal du Dimanche

, and there is no question of giving up after five days of mobilization and several million demonstrators.

Philippe Martinez explains that not only is there no openness on the government side, but that its position is becoming much more muscular.

For the Minister of Labour, on the contrary, the text has already evolved and the government is listening to concerns.

In the Senate, where the text is being debated these days, it is the situation of women and in particular mothers who should be improved, he continues in

Le Parisien

Olivier Dussopt also says he is considering other measures for the employment of seniors.

To which Philippe Martinez replies that he is waiting for the withdrawal of this reform.

The ministers will become rowing champions so much they row

," he adds, referring in particular to the imbroglio around the 1,200 euros minimum pension.

“

There is a form of amateurism and dissimulation

”.

“

The ball,

he concludes,

is now in the court of President Emmanuel Macron, even a law passed is not necessarily applied.

The mobilization against the pension reform is preparing to "bring France to a halt"

The mobilization against the pension reform is preparing to "bring France to a halt"

Targeted cuts, refineries blocked

Blockages expected in high schools and faculties

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