National Education is preparing for two days of strikes on January 17 and 19, 2023. The unions are calling for a strong mobilization from this Tuesday in all levels of education.
The school week will be disrupted in French schools. The education unions are calling on teachers to participate in two strike movements, of course the one planned for Thursday January 19 at the initiative of the inter-union to denounce the pension reform, but the reception of students in schools will be complicated from Tuesday 17 January. The SNES-FSU, the main secondary trade union organization, called for a strike this time to demand a salary increase and an improvement in working conditions.
The other education unions, in particular the Snuipp-FSU, the Unsa-education or the Sgen-CFDT, join these two calls for a strike and their representatives expect that the social movements will be widely followed by the teachers, Educational Assistants and Principal Educational Advisors. In which case many classes will be closed in schools of all levels.
The strikes of January 17 and 19 followed in the schools?
On January 17, the teachers will be the only ones to strike. And if the mobilization is organized two days before the strike launched by the inter-union, it has been planned for several weeks. Originally, it was the teachers of vocational high schools who called to take to the streets to fight against the reform of Emmanuel Macron’s professional path. Subject to which were added other demands defended for a long time by the professionals of National Education: an increase in wages and better working conditions. Since then, the SNES-FSU has also called for a strike extended to all teachers and school staff. Sophie Vénétitay, secretary general of the SNES-FSU, hopes that the strike movement will be very popular in schools.
As for the strike on Thursday January 19, dedicated more particularly to the fight against the pension reform, all the unions are calling for a strong mobilization of teachers and school staff. And for good reason, all consider this reform unfair and strongly oppose the decline of the legal retirement age to 64 years. They also denounce a reform which does not take into account long studies which further delay the retirement age to 67 years. “How are we going to be able to find ourselves facing 35 students at 64, 65, 66, 67. We are a profession with long studies”, launched Sophie Vénétitay on January 15 on BFM TV.
Which schools and which classes will be closed during the January strikes?
The schools or more precisely the classes which will not be open on January 17 and 19 are not listed anywhere but some provisions are planned to allow parents of students to know if their children will be welcomed or if they have to find solutions. fallback, especially when pupils are enrolled in the first level (nursery, elementary and primary schools). In the first degree, teachers who plan to strike must declare themselves and give notice of their absence at least two days in advance.
Parents of students can therefore inquire with schools from this Monday to find out if their child’s teacher will be present for class or on strike on Tuesday, January 17. On the other hand, you have to wait until Tuesday evening to have the same information for the strike on Thursday, January 19.
In secondary and higher education, teachers are not bound by the same obligation, nor are educational assistants. It is therefore impossible to know with certainty whether your children will have lessons except through the information that sometimes circulates between students and teachers via work groups and discussions.
Is childcare possible during the January strikes?
Even during a strike and in the event of the teachers’ absence, a minimum service must be provided in the schools, in particular childcare. The law in force since 2008 provides that “a pupil in primary, nursery or elementary school must be welcomed during class time, even if his teacher or mistress is absent. This reception service is free. It is provided differently in public schools and in private schools under contract”. Parents caught off guard will therefore be able to know that their child is safe and cared for. On the other hand, the other extracurricular services such as the nursery or the canteen service may be affected by the strike without a solution being offered. It should be noted that this free minimum reception service is not in force in colleges and high schools.