March 8: feminists call for strike at work and at home

Europe 1 with AFP 7:06 a.m., March 6, 2024

“When women stop, everything stops”: around fifty organizations are calling for a work and domestic strike on March 8, on the occasion of International Women's Rights Day, to demand measures to promote gender equality.

On March 8, "it's an opportunity to take to the streets" to give visibility and defend the rights in particular of "low-paid essential employees", "first-line workers" and "women victims of violence", a launched during a press conference, Anne Leclerc, member of the collective which is organizing this “feminist strike”.

Around fifty organizations are calling to participate in this movement, including feminist associations and unions (CGT, CFDT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, Solidaires, FSU).

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected on Friday across the four corners of France, in more than 150 cities, including Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille, but also in smaller towns, such as Quimper or Belfort.

In Paris, the procession will leave at 2 p.m. from Place Gambetta towards Place de la Bastille.

Women want to "live and not survive": the demonstrators will protest in particular against the latter's low income and its consequences.

In a context of high inflation which affects the purchasing power of households, women and children are the first victims of poverty, associations warned this winter.

Revalorizing feminized professions

At issue: the salary inequalities which exist "in all companies and in all administrations", denounced Myriam Lebkiri, of the CGT.

“They are known and go by many names,” such as the “sticky floor” or the “glass ceiling,” which refer to women’s difficulties in obtaining promotions.

Female employees earned on average 23.5% less than men in the private sector in 2022, according to an INSEE study, published Tuesday.

This gap is partly explained by "the lower annual volume of work of women", less often in employment and more part-time.

However, for the same working hours, the average salary of women remains 14.9% lower than that of men because they work in “less paid” sectors and positions.

To reduce these income differences, feminist and trade union organizations are calling for an increase in social minimums, an increase in salaries for feminized professions such as education, care or cleaning and a ban on imposed part-time work.

In the private sphere, women are "on the front line" for the education of children and the care of loved ones, pointed out Julie Ferrua, from Solidaires.

They are therefore “directly affected” by the absence or closure of public services, such as nursing homes or nurseries.

“It is urgent to create new rights, that for every child to find a mode of public collective care and that for every person to have their loss of autonomy taken care of, without this falling on women,” said detailed Julie Ferrua.

“Essential” domestic work

With regard to the education of young children, "when parents cannot find a childcare solution, it is mainly mothers who take responsibility for unchosen parental care", confirms a study by the Drees published on Tuesday.

Currently, the government estimates that there is a shortage of around 200,000 childcare places for young children and has promised to create them by 2030. This objective is, however, considered "unachievable" by a majority of players in the sector in due to the shortage of professionals.

“Even if the situation is evolving, the division of domestic labor remains highly unequal, including when both spouses work, we saw this during the Covid period,” lamented Soad Baba Aïssa, of the Femmes Solidaires association.

Going on strike and “not doing domestic work also allows us to demonstrate how everything we do is essential”, underlined the activist.

Large-scale feminist strikes have already taken place in several countries in recent years, such as in Spain or Iceland, feminists point out.