The union of trade unions is calling for a first day of demonstrations against the pension reform on January 19, 2023. The event must bring together workers, unions and politicians opposed to the bill.
The opposition to the pension reform is already in battle order. While the Prime Minister presented the bill in the afternoon of January 10, the same evening the unions announced the holding of a first demonstration against the reform on Thursday January 19, 2023. This day of strike and demonstrations must be “the start of a powerful mobilization on long-term pensions”, calls in its press release the inter-union which brings together eight organizations (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, Solidaires, FSU). Individually, the general secretaries and presidents of the unions have again insisted on the importance of leading the fight so that the reform which they consider unfair “does not enter into force”.
Why a demonstration against the pension reform on January 19?
The date of the day of demonstrations and strike announced by the unions leaves them one week to organize the mobilizations. However, the protest movement that began several weeks ago is quickly refocusing on the fight against pension reform and for good reason: the unions want to be the initiators of the revolt and not give political parties the opportunity to take on this role. . “I believe that the left-wing parties would be inspired to let us manage the social mobilization. It is up to the trade unions to give the ‘the’ and the kick-off of the mobilization”, warned the general secretary of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, January 6 in The Parisian. A thinly veiled message to the attention of La France insoumise (LFI) which is organizing its “march for pensions” on January 21.
It is also because the intersyndicale is aware of the executive’s desire to have its reform adopted in the space of a few months for entry into force scheduled for the summer of 2023 that the opposition is getting organized in high speed. “The objective is to start [les mobilisations] as quickly as possible, because we know that the government will want to go very quickly by skipping the necessary debate in Parliament, “said Céline Verzeletti, confederal secretary of the CGT at the Telegram.
Who is called to demonstrate on January 19?
With a call for strikes and demonstrations common to the eight main unions and the five youth organizations, it is indeed all workers, or at least a majority of them, who are invited to take to the streets to denounce the reform retirements. All sectors are also concerned and those affected by the abolition of special regimes all the more so. The unions also hope to see as many workers from the public as from the private sector join the processions of demonstrators.
In addition to employees and unions, politicians are also invited to take part in the mobilization by union representatives such as Laurent Berger, boss of the CFDT who called on the political parties “to mobilize on January 19” without however recovering the mobilizations at their account. It is indeed the voices of the working people, the first to be affected by the pension reform, which must be heard. And many politicians have already responded, especially in the ranks of the Nupes. LFI, which is planning another demonstration in the process, supports the movement “massively” according to several deputies, just like the PS which spoke through the voice of its spokesperson Pierre Toy. On the side of the communists and environmentalists, we promise to be in the processions of January 19: “All mobilized in the street” tweeted the boss of the communists Fabien Roussel while the national secretary of EELV Marine Tondelier made it known that “[ses] sneakers are ready”.
How many demonstrators expected on January 19?
The inter-union is hopeful of seeing thousands of people take part in the cause. This Wednesday, January 11, according to a Elabe survey for BFM TV, 60% of French people say they support the mobilization against the pension reform and 46% add that they are ready to mobilize themselves in the coming weeks. For the time being, the unions are not advancing any quantified objectives except to reach and exceed the number of demonstrators counted in the streets to fight against the pension reform presented in 2019, i.e. 806,000 people.
Other demonstrations to come against the pension reform?
The mobilization day of January 19, 2023 should not be the only one. The unions are calling for them to stay the course and take to the streets until the government backs down on the pension reform or lends itself to real negotiations and “it will take a hell of a mobilization to make them back down, we will not be able to be satisfied with a half-success”, recognizes Cyril Chabanier, president of the CFTC at the microphone of France news. Other mobilizations at the initiative of the unions could therefore follow in the coming months, particularly in February and March when the reform will be debated in Parliament.
And when the unions do not call for mobilization, others can take over like LFI. On January 6, even before knowing the date of the day of union mobilization, Jean-Luc Mélenchon announced the holding of the “march for pensions” on January 21 to “open the phase of direct and frontal struggle on the central theme of the quinquennium”. The whole left should follow suit and on the other side of the political spectrum, the far right is also fiercely opposed to pension reform.
Encouraged by these calls for mobilization, citizens could also organize demonstrations. Police intelligence also fears “a new large-scale citizen mobilization” with the accumulation of hot spots in recent months: inflation, the energy crisis and now the unwelcome pension reform. In a note consulted by our colleagues from BFM TV and of France Interthe police say they fear “long strikes in several key sectors of the economy” and demonstrations “outside any union framework” as well as “necessarily disruptive and unpredictable modes of action”.