schools, refineries, transport… Which sectors will be mobilized?

The January 31 strike against the pension reform promises to be very popular in several sectors. Transport and schools have already announced major disruptions, but other sectors also intend to manifest themselves. What mobilizations should we expect?

The contours of the January 31 strike are taking shape. On the eve of the day of mobilizations, the unions are refining the last details and begin to unfold the expected disturbances. Transport was the first to warn users of the difficulties awaiting them in stations from this evening at 7 p.m. The first primary school union, Snuipp-FSU, took over by announcing on January 30 that at least 50% of teachers will be on strike in schools, a “very good figure” according to the union’s general secretary, Guislaine David. .

These announcements suggest that the strike of January 31 will be followed but the inter-union expects more and wishes that the mobilization surpasses the previous one. This wish can still be granted if we believe the estimates made by the intelligence services which, in a report consulted by The Parisian, are betting on a million demonstrators in the streets all over France, including many strikers, on January 31. During the first day of the national strike, the same services had announced between 500,000 and 750,000 people in the processions. It is of course the number and the duration of the social movement against the pension reform that the unions are banking on to force the government to back down on the bill. “We must start discussing a plan that will lay the foundations for a renewable strike,” wrote 300 trade unionists, intellectuals and activists, authors of a column published in the Sunday newspaper, this January 29th. But the battle promises to be difficult since this Sunday the Prime Minister assured bluntly on France info : “It is no longer negotiable. Retirement at 64 and the acceleration of the Touraine reform, this is the compromise that we proposed after hearing the employers’ organizations and trade unions”. A statement that raises the anger of opponents, who are preparing if not to block the country at least to partially paralyze it.

Transport severely disrupted on January 31

Over the weekend, SNCF transport users were warned of the first disruptions to train traffic for Tuesday. The company has planned a greatly slowed down traffic on all trains with an average of one TGV out of three maintained throughout the territory against 2 TER out of 10 and 1 RER out of 10 for lines C, D and E and J, L, N, P, R. On the Intercités side, only one round trip will be maintained throughout the day.

The RATP is following the movement and has announced “very disrupted traffic on the RER and metro networks” and slightly less affected on the surface for buses or trams. But it is not only in Paris that transport will malfunction. Disturbances are expected in all metropolises, in Marseille a metro should not run and the other should be slowed down as in Lyon. Elsewhere, such as Bordeaux, Lille or Strasbourg, tram traffic should be significantly slowed down.

A call for a school strike

For the third time a call for a strike has been launched in the schools and like the previous ones it promises to be followed. On the eve of the mobilization, the Snuipp-FSU, the main primary school union, announced that at least 50% of teachers will be on strike in nursery and elementary schools. A figure that satisfies the unions according to the general secretary of the Snuipp-FSU, Guislaine David: “There is no surprise, we knew that we would not go up to 70% as during the first mobilization. But 50% remains a very good figure which shows that the protest movement against the pension reform is taking hold in the schools”.

No estimates yet for middle and high school teachers. It will be necessary to wait for the day of mobilization to have the first figures but it is possible that the rate of strikers is close or equivalent to that observed in the primary. In this strike, the unions said they were “united and determined to have this pension reform project withdrawn” and some like SUD-education are already calling for the renewal of the movement.

If teachers and all school staff are invited to strike on January 31 against the pension reform. The high school students are also ready to mobilize and the high school student union called for the blocking of schools this Tuesday but also from this Monday in places. Some 60 high schools had been blocked during the previous strike, the objective is revised upwards for this Tuesday.

Airports on strike on January 31?

Anger is also rising in airline companies. At the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC), the USAC-CGT filed a strike notice for January 31 and asked for a 20% reduction in flights organized during the day at Paris-Orly. Note that the CGT Air France also called for a strike on Tuesday and the company plans to cancel a tenth flight for short and medium haul.

At Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, mobilization is also possible even if nothing has yet been formalized. On RMCLoris Foreman, CGT delegate in a Roissy company had warned that a large-scale movement on the strategic airport site could weigh heavily on the economy: “For [que le gouvernement] backs down on the pension reform, we must block everything that is strategic, everything that is economic. […] If you block the airport, you block the economy.”

The January 31 strike followed in the refineries and the energy sector?

Refineries already have a specific schedule for strikes with one move scheduled before January 31 and another after. But the CGT-Petrole has decided to add the date of the national mobilization to its list of actions. As during the first two mobilizations, refineries should be blocked and deliveries interrupted.

On the side of energy and power plants, the line of attack is not yet determined. The unions did not speak of a strike, on the other hand actions were mentioned with, among other things, reductions in production, power cuts of one or two hours and free electricity in certain types of establishments. such as hospitals or schools for example. Actions of this kind have already taken place since January 26, the previous day of strike in the sector.

The strike followed in the public services?

The story is always the same in the public service: the unions continue to campaign against the pension reform especially against the postponement of the legal age and call in a press release “to participate actively” in the strike of January 31. State, territorial and hospital officials are affected by this appeal. The intersyndicale recalled that in its sector the previous mobilization was “crowned with success”.

Ski resorts and vacation spots on strike?

This is a sector that did not mobilize earlier but with the approach of the winter holidays, the resorts will be affected by the strike on January 31. The two ski lift unions, the CGT and FO, have filed strike notices for the day of national mobilization. “The lifts will operate normally from the next day [le 1er février, ndlr]. We don’t want to further weaken companies that are already in difficulty,” said Eric Becker, FO General Secretary for ski lifts and seasonal workers at theAFP.

Town halls closed for the January 31 strike

Like the town hall of Paris, several other municipalities have announced the closure of their premises on January 31, responding to the call launched by Fabien Roussel. Which relies on the closure of “several hundred” municipalities. Anne Hidalgo’s entourage announced to BFM TV the terms of this closure at the Paris City Hall. “Concretely, next Tuesday, we close the Town Hall during the time of the event: the exhibitions, the administrative library, the shop of the tourist office, we do not hold meetings. The only exceptions, the crèche and the stopover for homeless women remain open,” said the councilor’s team.

The LFI mayor of Faches-Thumesnil in the North also announced via Twitter the closure of his town hall: “so that the agents of the city of Faches-Thumesnil can go to the demonstration in Lille in the afternoon during the gdream of January 31, I decided that the hours of strike would not be deducted from the salary from 2 p.m. Retirement is 60 years at full rate!”