Against the government’s broken promises and a potential agreement between the EU and Mercosur, farmers began their blockade actions on the roads and in front of prefectures. On the SNCF side, the first strikes are announced for this Wednesday.
Social movements are expected to be numerous in November. As a reminder, the RATP and airline pilots opened the ball with strikes which did not cause any disruptions on November 12 and 14, but other sectors have promised to mobilize and want to be heard: farmers, the SNCF or even many professions in the Civil Service. The unions in all these sectors have set the dates for the next mobilizations, but they also warn of a possible extension of the movements in the absence of satisfactory responses from the State. Some also warn against an increase in social mobilizations, particularly during the end-of-year holiday period.
Each sector has its own demands, but many are linked to the budget bill. The airline sector opposes the increase in a tax planned for January 2025, the Civil Service denounces the measures taken by its ministry concerning waiting days and compensation for sick leave… On the side of the SNCF, we denounce the competition for certain lines and the dismantling of certain services, while among farmers, it is the working conditions and the free trade agreement with Mercosur which crystallize the anger. Teachers are also mobilized, demanding better recognition of their work.
Farmers’ mobilizations: first roads blocked and prefectures degraded
The two majority unions, the FNSEA and the Young Farmers (JA) announced the start of a national movement from Monday, November 18. And the agricultural crisis continues and is growing with the mobilization of Rural Coordination, the second union in the sector, in addition to the actions initiated by the alliance of majority unions FNSEA-JA. While “85 demonstration points” were recorded yesterday, there could be more of them this Tuesday, November 19.
The Rural Coordination, the second agricultural union, for its part called for an “agricultural revolt” from Tuesday, November 19 by demonstrating in front of the prefectures. In the absence of a response from the State, the union warns against actions to block “French food freight” from November 20 to “give the government a foretaste of what our country will be like tomorrow, without a farmer. Some farmers also believe that the movement “will be harder than last time”. The agricultural movement is already hardening with the mobilization of Rural Coordination this Tuesday: the union is organizing a blockade of the A9 at the Franco-Spanish border which could last several days. Elsewhere, they go to the prefectures and dump manure and waste as in Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) or Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes).
Strike at the SNCF from November 20 to 22, then in December?
While the SNCF inter-union called for a strike this Thursday, November 21 which will begin on Wednesday, November 20 at 7 p.m. until Thursday, November 22 in the morning, 8 a.m., the first disruptions were announced by SNCF Voyageurs this Tuesday, announcing “almost normal” TGV traffic but “some disruptions” to be expected “on certain regional lines”. The strike therefore appears to have little impact on rail traffic for the moment. More detailed traffic forecasts will be revealed here at the end of the day.
This day of strike to denounce a “strategy of social dumping and unlimited financial profitability” on the part of the management of the railway company is announced as an “ultimatum” before a potential movement renewable every 24 hours envisaged from Wednesday December 11, 2024, i.e. 10 days before the start of the end-of-year holidays. The consequences for SNCF users could be considerable. If the strike is continued after December 11, it could disrupt planned journeys during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
A day of “action” and “strike” for the Civil Service on December 5
“The trade union organizations CGT, CFDT, UNSA, FSU, Solidaires, CFE-CGC and FA-FP call on civil service agents for a day of action, rallies, demonstrations and strikes throughout the territory on December 5, 2024”, they indicated in a press release published on November 14. An agreement was reached to organize a mobilization and oppose the measures desired by the government and Minister Guillaume Kasbarian concerning the extension of the waiting period for the civil service to three days, compared to one currently.
Only the FO union did not join the call and instead preferred to maintain its proposal to carry out a three-day renewable strike “at the same time as the railway workers’ strike”, i.e. on November 21, the secretary said. general of the UIAFP-FO, Christian Grolier, to the AFP. “We are going to take the minister’s game at its word: three days of waiting time, three days of strike,” the trade unionist already said after a meeting of the organizations with the minister.
The Civil Service includes several professional fields, the mobilization dates could however multiply and the first branch to have announced a mobilization is that of early childhood on Tuesday, November 19. This is also happening on the national education side with the filing of a social alert against job cuts, without calls for strikes, for the moment. Professionals in the health and social action sector, on the other hand, have filed a strike notice which can be extended inter-unionly. Municipal police officers also filed a strike notice on Friday, with the National Public Security Union.