It is a vote that should still fan the embers. On Saturday evening, the Senate – with a majority on the right – voted the extinction of several special regimes, including those of the RATP and energy companies, provided for in article 1 of the pension reform, only for future recruits. From September 2023, new recruits will thus be affiliated to the common law scheme for old-age insurance. From Friday, the energy companies therefore began a renewable strike against the reform project, with reductions in electricity production – nearly 5,000 megawatts – in several nuclear power plants, a prelude to the day of “shutdown” of France scheduled for March 7.
“The first network security messages have been reached and our goal is not to affect users,” Fabrice Coudour, federal secretary of CGT Energie, told AFP. “But the question of going further will arise next week,” he added. “We will be capable of anything.”
According to AFP, based on data provided by the EDF site, the four nuclear production units of Tricastin (Drôme) were affected on Saturday by load drops of around 2,000 megawatts. For its part, the CGT affirmed that the unit of Flamanville 2 (Manche) was “still in the hands of the strikers for the morning shift”, Saturday, while Saint-Alban 2 (Isère) also experienced a drop in production overnight. The union also demanded an “energy sobriety” of “very many” road cameras in “Mayenne, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Gironde…”. “We do not say where like that we maintain prevention, but we remove the sanction”, justified Fabrice Coudour.
“Block the whole economy”
For its part, the National Federation of Transport and Logistics (FNTL) calls on drivers to “stop from Sunday March 5 at 10 p.m.” for an “unlimited” period La FNTL FO / UNCP also calls for this strike to be extended until March 7th. “The confederations are calling for France to be brought to a halt, we will do our part”, warns Patrick Blaise, secretary general of the CFDT Route, leader of the sector, in the columns of Parisian. “We are clearly going to toughen up the tone to make the government bend”, supports Patrice Clos, his counterpart at FO Transports, still in the Ile-de-France daily.
In the refineries, the CGT also called for a renewable strike, with the aim of “blocking the entire economy”, at the level of the production, distribution and importation of fuel, according to the CGT- Chemistry. Initially, the strikers intend to block shipments from refineries to depots, but if the movement were to last three days or more, it could lead to the shutdown of refineries. That of Donges (Loire-Atlantique), one of the largest of TotalEnergies, is already “out of production” due to an electrical problem that occurred on February 27, according to management.
Another link, the refuellers or “sky pumpers”, responsible for supplying the planes, are also called to strike in airports throughout France. The CGT, the leading union in the sector, expects an “immediate” impact. The entire oil and chemicals branch is called upon to strike, including in the pharmaceutical sector, as well as the branches of industry: aeronautics, automotive, steel, are all affected by a strike that the union hopes to see renewed.
For their part, the SNCF and the RATP must communicate the forecasts this Sunday at 5 p.m., but “major disturbances” have already been announced by Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the transport authority in the Ile-de-France region. In anticipation, the Minister of Transport Clément Beaune called on Friday all French people who can to telecommute, because “March 7, it’s going to be hard”, he admitted.