Pension reform: strike funds, key to long-term mobilisation

Appearing in the nineteenth century, strike funds, which make it possible to minimize wage losses during strike days, have found a prominent place in the armada of unions in the face of a tense economic context, marked by inflation. © GONZALO FUENTES / REUTERS

Text by: Zhifan Liu Follow

3 min

Appearing in the nineteenth century, strike funds, which make it possible to minimize losses for employees on strike days based on the solidarity of donations, have regained a prominent place in the strategy of unions in recent years, in the face of a tense economic context, marked by inflation.

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This Wednesday, March 15 already marks the eighth day of mobilization against the pension reform project of the Borne government. And for some protesters, this is the eighth day of the strike, so many days of lost pay. And the bill begins to be salty.

Impoverishment, a key factor

Faced with a government that does not want to back down, the unions can count on a tool to mobilize the troops and prolong the movement in the streets: strike funds, which allow employees to strike while receiving compensation to compensate for part of the deductions from wages. Appearing during the Canuts revolt in Lyon in 1831, at a time when the right to strike did not yet exist, strike funds are flourishing in a tense economic context. "The key factor is the impoverishment of a part of society – put forward by the yellow vest movement – which from the beginning of the month no longer has control over its budget because of credits and direct debits," says sociologist Gabriel Rosenman, a former railway worker hired at SUD-Rail, who is preparing a thesis on the subject.

► Read also: Pensions: government and unions prepare for a decisive day for reform

The caisses have a saving role to prevent employees from having to ask themselves twice about their participation in social movements. Since the beginning of the year, almost every union has been going to its strike fund online. Gabriel Rosenman distinguishes between two types of boxes. On the one hand, there are those set up by the unions for their members, such as the CFDT reserve, which has a fund of 150 million euros fed by contributions, and those, ephemeral, which appear during a strike movement and disappear immediately afterwards, open to external donations.

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— Solidarity Fund (@CaisseSoliAsso) February 23, 2023

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In any case, the aim is to support the strikers financially, but also politically. The housekeepers of the Ibis-Batignolles hotel in Paris would not have been able to hold on without these funds and their unpaid salaries," says the sociologist, who also recalls their important role in the last movement against pensions in 2019, marked by the popularization of online kitties, which have made it possible to "open up workers' solidarity".

New strike management policies

The use of strike funds has also become more democratic in response to the new strike management policies practised in some companies. "Since the years 2010-2014, the negotiations at the end of the conflict, which made it possible to negotiate the staggering of strike days and to smooth payroll deductions over several months, have disappeared. SNCF, RATP and La Poste now produce payslips at 0 euros from the first month of strike," continues Gabriel Rosenman.

More than ever, solidarity is required, especially among donors who cannot strike, like pensioners. For Gabriel Rosenman, the constitution of these funds does not weaken the mobilization, on the contrary. According to a questionnaire conducted by the former railway worker, 66% of them define themselves as activists and have participated in demonstrations. Their involvement is therefore not limited to donations.

►To listen also: Strike against the pension reform in France: how to explain the lasting support of a majority of French people and the success of strike funds?

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