STRIKE MARCH 23. France paralyzed this Thursday, March 23, 2023? A new day of strike is organized to challenge the pension reform. Many blockages are underway in various sectors across the country. Our live.
The essential
- A black Thursday this March 23, 2023 in France? Blockades have been underway across the country and in various sectors since the beginning of the day, in response to the call for mobilization against the pension reform launched by the unions.
- Transport, schools, universities, roads, refineries… There are many sites disturbed by protesters reassembled after the adoption in force of the bill and the day after an interview with Emmanuel Macron which did not appease the anger .
- During the day, more than 200 demonstrations took place throughout France to say, for the 9th time since the beginning of the year, no to pension reform.
- Follow all the news live.
Live
11:54 – In Paris, demonstrators invade the tracks of the Gare de Lyon
As in Marseille this morning, demonstrators invaded the tracks of the Gare de Lyon, in Paris. Direct consequence: no train can leave or be welcomed. A delay of 30 minutes was decreed on all the planned connections.
11:41 – The mobilization of teachers in decline in schools, colleges and high schools
According to the Ministry of National Education, 23.22% of school teachers are on strike this Thursday. A number well below March 7 when 35.35% of teachers had mobilized. In colleges and high schools, the drop in mobilization is also strong since 19.61% of teachers are on strike, against 30.09% on March 7.
11:20 – Union press conference tonight
The inter-union announces that it will meet this Thursday evening at the headquarters of the CFDT, in Paris. A press conference will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the end of the meeting and should give the content of the possible continuation of the movement.
11:00 – Let’s go for the demonstrations
In addition to the blockages, demonstrations are starting to take place all over the country. In total, 250 processions are planned throughout the day in France. To follow live in our dedicated live.
10:47 – 400 high schools blocked in France
According to a first union point during the morning, a dozen high schools are totally or partially blocked this Thursday morning in Paris, 30 to 40 in Île-de-France. The high school voice has nearly 400 in the country. Figures that the Ministry of National Education does not yet confirm.
10:09 – Blockages at Roissy airport
Mayhem at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle! Protesters block access to Terminal 1 at the airport this morning, causing traffic jams to form upstream. Passengers have to finish their journey on foot. Opponents of pension reform are also demonstrating inside the airport. This is the terminal which concerns in particular the companies Lufthansa, Air Algérie, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates or Air Canada.
09:51 – Electricity cut at Fort Brégançon
It’s more of a symbol than a punch action. Striking agents from Enedis du Var announced that they had cut power overnight from Wednesday to Thursday. Among the places targeted, Fort Brégançon, the summer residence of the President of the Republic.
09:42 – Trains stopped in Marseille
In Marseille, the tracks of the Saint-Charles station were taken over by a hundred demonstrators. Train traffic is interrupted, causing traffic delays.
09:11 – Heavy traffic, no more, in Île-de-France
Ile-de-France residents seem to have made their arrangements for teleworking or spreading out their trips by car. While metro, RER and Transilien traffic is severely disrupted this Thursday, a peak of traffic jams just 325 km away, shortly before 8 a.m., was recorded by Sytadin, the traffic monitoring site in Île-de-France. An accumulation barely higher than usual but far from the peaks recorded during other strike days this year.
09:00 – Several facs blocked
In Bordeaux, the Sciences-Po campus is closed, as is that of ENTPE and ENSAL in Lyon, where the two Lyon 2 campuses are also closed. In Paris, the University of Assas is also blocked.
08:46 – Traffic also disrupted in Lille
The demonstrators seem to favor blockades by the road this Thursday morning. In Lille, access to the ring road is also prevented by opponents of the pension reform since entrances 4 “Faches” and exit 2 “Lille-Sud, Lille-Moulins, Faches-Thumesnil” are blocked.
08:41 – Near Marseille, heavy disturbances on the A7
Traffic on the A7 motorway is greatly slowed down this Thursday morning near Marseille. Demonstrators block the exit of Pennes-Mirabeau, shortly before Vitrolles, in the south-north direction. The exit route is inaccessible, causing major traffic jams in the area.
08:36 – The ring road partially blocked in Lyon
In Lyon, employees of the Edouard-Herriot port of Lyon blocked the ring road near Saint-Fons, to the south of the city. Several kilometers of traffic jams formed upstream before the demonstrators were dislodged after an hour of action.
08:25 – Mayhem on the ring road in Toulouse
In Toulouse, traffic is completely paralyzed. An action was carried out on the ring road with the lighting of a fire on lanes located west of the ring road, causing major traffic disruptions in the area.
08:20 – Various blockages in the west
In the west of France, and more particularly in Normandy, many filter dams are in place, at the level of roundabouts, with the presence of demonstrators who slow down traffic. In Caen, access to the peninsula is blocked. Blockages are also underway in Cherbourg, as well as in Rennes where a bus depot is blocked. Filter dams are also put in place.
Disturbances were becoming fewer and fewer in transport, on strike for almost three weeks. But users will reconnect, despite themselves, with the difficulties this Thursday, March 23 because the SNCF has announced “highly disturbed” traffic on all lines.
Same old story from the RATP, which announced on Tuesday that traffic was also to be expected “very disturbed” for the day of March 23. Other regional transport networks could be affected. In Nice, the Ligne d’Azur network is also announcing disruptions this Thursday and other companies could follow this example.
Airline, port and truck strike
In the transport sector, rail will not be the only area affected. In the air sector, too, disruptions are to be expected at airports since the USAC CGT union, which represents General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) staff and air traffic controllers, has filed a strike notice for 20 to March 23. Two days before the mobilization, the DGAC requested the cancellation of 30% of flights at Orly and 20% at the airports of Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse.
As for the ports, it is the CGT des Ports et Docks which called for a 3-day mobilization, between March 21 and 23. Finally, on the roads also motorists could be slowed down by blockages or snail operations. The CFDT FGTE but also the SUD-SOLIDAIRES Transports Routiers federation and the FO Transports and Logistics federation called for a strike on 23 March.
The six metropolitan refineries have been on strike for several weeks but several have hardened the mobilizations last weekend or at the start of the week. All have suspended fuel deliveries, but another lever can still be triggered and the TotalEnergie site in Gonfreville-l’Orcher (Seine-Maritime) passed this stage on March 21: the shutdown of production. Esso-ExxonMobil’s Normandy refinery is also close to shutting down production.
Prolonged refinery strikes are beginning to have visible effects on the supply of service stations with 12% of stations running out of at least one fuel. Because the refineries are not the only ones to see their functioning disrupted, the fuel depots are also taken hostage by the strikes and the expeditions are, for the most part, prevented.
Several education unions, including the main federations, the Snuipp-FSU and the Snes-FSU, have called for a strike this Thursday, March 23. And the message seems to have gotten through since according to the majority primary school union, between 40% and 50% of primary school teachers will be on strike on March 23. In Paris alone, the SNUipp-FSU expects to see at least 140 of the capital’s 645 primary schools closed and 70% of the Academy teachers on strike.
Teachers being forced to declare themselves strikers in primary schools at least two days in advance, parents of students were able to make their arrangements, but the surprise will be total in colleges and high schools. In addition to classroom lessons, other school and extracurricular services such as the canteen, daycare or nurseries could also be affected this Thursday.
On Tuesday, the CGT Public Services voted to extend the strike until Monday, March 27. “The entire waste sector of the city of Paris: garbage collectors who are officials of the city of Paris, garbage collectors in the private sector and employees of incineration plants”, is concerned, specified the secretary general of the CGT federation of public services. , Natacha Pommet, whose Le Figaro echoes. A decision which led to the activation, also on Tuesday, of a daily crisis unit by the mayor of Paris.