Their main lever: the electricity and gas networks, over which they have, thanks to their unionized network, control within numerous structures. The workers of the CGT Mines-Energie intend to use it to weigh all their weight on the economy, in order to obtain the “pure and simple” withdrawal of the government bill which plans to push back the legal age. retirement from age 62 to 64. As the rumble mounts at the approach of the demonstration scheduled for Thursday January 19 everywhere in France, the federation announced last Friday a “battle plan”, which provides for a “recovery of the tool in all its forms” .
Shut down nuclear power plants?
The actions mentioned by the branch of the union are numerous, and radical: restoration of electricity and gas to the most precarious, free energy, drop in production. Elected officials who support the reform could also be directly targeted. “We’re going to see those who want the reform, who support it, those, we’re going to take care of them. We’re going to see them in their offices, we’re going to talk to them, and then if by chance they do not understand the world of work, we will target them in the cuts that we will be able to organize”, said the secretary general of the federation Sébastien Menesplier, during a meeting at the headquarters of the CGT in Montreuil on Monday.
The federation goes so far as to threaten to prevent by strikes the restarting of certain reactors for the moment stopped, necessary to maintain an electricity network already in tension for several months. “If there are strikes, there will be no restarting of reactors. If there is no restarting of reactors, there may be a lack of production capacity. […] We will fully assume as we did this fall. And we will wait for someone to pick us up,” added Sébastien Menesplier.
“Methods that come out of the rule of law”
These union actions caused an outcry on the right. “These are illegal methods, methods that come out of the rule of law”, got carried away on Europe 1 Bruno Retailleau, the boss of the LR senators who supports the pension reform. The LR president of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, for whom it is an “accounting” reform, made similar comments on franceinfo: “The strike is a right recognized by the Constitution. Abuses of the right strikes are not,” he declared, calling on the government and companies to “take the necessary sanctions”.
The tone is very different on the left, which considers these practices “non-violent”. “Don’t count on me to start denigrating, or attacking the trade unions”, replied on CNews Manuel Bompard, the coordinator of LFI, on Tuesday. He explains that he supports “all forms of action as long as they do not cross a threshold […] which is violence against people and against property”. Same story with Green MP Sandrine Rousseau, who indicated that “as long as it is non-violent, all ways of mobilizing are good”, adding that “and though they are disobedient, they are good”.
Coordinate efforts to “disorganize” the economy
To “disorganize the economy” as much as possible, the CGT Mines-Energie wants to coordinate its efforts with other federations. A meeting took place last week with the CGT des Ports et Docks, the FNIC (Chemistry) and the railway workers, and a new meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. The CGT unions in the oil branch already announced several days of strike last week, with a work stoppage of 24 hours on January 19, 48 hours on the 26th and 72 hours from February 6th.
The general strike scheduled for Thursday, which will mark the start of the mobilization against the pension reform, should already cause many problems for users. Disruptions are expected in many sectors, starting with transport, or education, which should cause many school closures. The veil will be lifted little by little on the extent of the mobilization which could disturb the country for several weeks, while the subject of pensions has provoked major social movements among the French since 1995.