This Thursday, December 5, a day of action and strike was announced by the civil service unions. Other sectors will mobilize in the following days.
The month of December will be marked by numerous mobilizations, which will intensify this week and next week. All sectors are mobilized, denouncing working conditions but also measures specific to their sector or the consequences of the bill concerning the 2025 budget in their profession. The dates of announced events have multiplied.
Farmers have already started since November 18 and have not stopped mobilizing. They denounce their working conditions as well as the free trade agreement with Mercorsur. The SNCF, for its part, launched a strike on November 21 and this could quickly resume for an indefinite period. The introduction of competition for certain lines and the dismantling of particular services have angered railway workers.
This week, it’s the widely feared civil service strike, planned for Thursday, December 5. It aims in particular to protest against the measures taken by his ministry on waiting days and compensation for sick leave.
Civil service: a major day of strike 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.
“Wage freezes, 3,155 job cuts, waiting days, contempt and teacher-bashing… the reasons for the anger are multiple for staff,” wrote the FSU-SNUipp in a press release. The National Education unions having confirmed their mobilization, many classes could be closed this Thursday and canteens could also be affected.
SUD Éducation even filed a strike notice extending from November 21 to January 20, 2025 concerning “all staff working in schools, services and educational establishments”. For its part, the Force Ouvrière organization believes that a single day of mobilization will not be enough and plans “three days of strike for three days of waiting”, on December 11, 12 and 13.
The municipal police and even hospital staff will also respond to the call for a strike. Administrative services in town halls and departmental or regional councils could also be disrupted.
Farmers: acceleration of mobilization on December 9 and 10
The FNSEA announced a new series of mobilizations on Monday December 9 and Tuesday December 10. Friday November 29, at the microphone of RMC, the president of the first agricultural union, Arnaud Rousseau, added that they will be done “around income, around the relationship with the price of our products, particularly in the context of the start of relations sales, negotiation with distributors”. He also aspires to “conclude the cycle” by meeting the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier. “We need concrete results to be achieved,” he declared.
The movement therefore continues while the mobilization of farmers has been uninterrupted since November 18 after the call from the FNSEA and the JA, the majority union alliance. Rural Coordination joined the movement on November 19 with more substantial actions, notably the blocking of certain roads such as the A9 between Spain and France and the blocking of purchasing centers. The mobilizations of farmers are diverse: filter dams on the roads, occupation of roundabouts and roads, “fires of anger”, mobilizations in front of the prefectures with dumping of manure or waste and other more substantial actions such as blockades of roads and purchasing centers, controls of goods. On November 28, they attacked public institutions, including Anses and Inrae, by erecting symbolic walls in front of their entrances.
On the same dates next week, a strike will also take place in all ports, announced by the National Federation of Ports and Docks CGT. They denounce risks linked to asbestos and want negotiations on salaries. This strike could affect “loading and unloading” activities.
Strike at the SNCF: a renewable movement from December 11?
The SNCF inter-union called for an indefinite strike starting on December 11 at 7 p.m., in response to the confirmation of the dismantling of Fret SNCF on January 1 and to denounce the opening to competition. However, the threat of a renewable strike every 24 hours on SNCF trains is receding. Already on Thursday, November 21, the strike movement was barely followed. According to the CGT union, only one in four railway workers was on strike that day.
“The French don’t want this strike at Christmas, we understand them, and above all there are no reasons,” Jean-Pierre Farandou, CEO of SNCF, also declared on RTL. “I am quite doubtful about this social movement, especially since there are no other possible hypotheses” than this dismantling, announced the Minister for Transport François Durovray.
Mobilization of employees on December 12
The general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet, called on employees to go on strike on December 12. They are called to mobilize in front of factories and prefectures. The objective: to fight against layoffs. “We are now calling on employees affected by the layoff plans to go on strike and occupy their factories,” Sophie Binet declared at a press conference. The CGT also encourages “employees to take action to defend employment and industry”, denouncing the proliferation of social plans in recent weeks in France.
Taxis, energy, other calls for strike in early December
All energy unions have called employees in the sector to strike on December 5, in particular to demand an increase in wages. The strike will begin the day before at 9 p.m. for night shifts. The date falls on the same day as the civil service with demands considered “roughly identical” on purchasing power.
Another strike is underway at the start of the week: that of taxis. Several taxi unions in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes announced a mobilization “aimed at blocking several routes of entry and exit from the Lyon metropolitan area” this Monday, December 2. This could hinder the movement of motorists. They are protesting against the agreement with Health Insurance for the transport of seated patients, which is currently being negotiated. It could impact taxi turnover. The demonstration could extend to Marseille and Toulon this Monday and to Paris the next day.