STRIKE OF MARCH 7. Some unions have already mentioned renewable strikes from Tuesday March 7, the day when the inter-union calls for “putting France to a halt” to protest against the pension reform. Are we heading towards a hardening of the movement?
[Mis à jour le 17 février 2023 à 17h54] The French inter-union intends to score a big blow on Tuesday March 7, the date of the next day of mobilization against the pension reform. The trade unions thus hope to relaunch the movement after the fifth day of mobilization on Thursday, February 16, during which the number of demonstrators and strikers was down. In a press release published on February 11, the inter-union thus called for “putting France to a halt in all sectors on March 7” if “the government and parliamentarians remain deaf to popular protest”.
Should we expect a “dark day” in the sectors so far very mobilized in the challenge of the pension reform, such as transport, refineries, energy or education? The track of a hardening of walkouts with renewable strikes is not, for the moment, unanimous within the inter-union. If the secretary general of the CGT Philippe Martinez said he was considering renewable strikes on February 7 on BFM TVhis counterpart from the CFDT, Laurent Berger, meanwhile assured, during an interview with the Grand Jury RTL-Le Figaro-LCI on February 12, that there is “no call for a renewable strike” and for “generalized blocking” on March 7. The trade unions of certain professions have however already called for a renewable strike from this date.
The secretary general of the CFDT also invited the French to join “symbolically” in the protest, in particular “by lowering the curtain of their stores for an hour or two”. What to expect in France for March 7? Find below the latest information on this sixth day of mobilization against the pension reform.
While the question of the hardening of the protest movement of the pension reform by renewable strikes always arouses debates within the inter-union, the unions of certain professions have already called for the renewable strike on March 7. In a press release published on February 11, the intersyndicale de la RATP thus called to stop work from that day. On the side of the SNCF, the unions will meet on February 22 to decide on the mobilization of March 7, indicates Le Figaro.
The CGT federations of public services and transport have also initiated a movement with garbage men and “the entire sector” of waste from the same date, in a joint press release. The CGT is the majority in Paris among municipal and private garbage collectors, notes RTL.
The CGT Chemistry Federation (Fnic-CGT), which includes refineries, is also calling for a renewable strike in the sector from March 6 in the evening. According to a union representative of the Fnic-CGT contacted by Le Figaro this Friday, fuel shortages could occur from March 7. “They could be of the same magnitude as last October, when we organized a strike of several days to obtain a salary increase”, estimates this union representative in the columns of the daily.
Finally, the education unions, in a press release published on February 14, announced a strike on March 7, with the aim of “totally closing schools, colleges, high schools and services”. Until then, many other sectors such as energy should announce walkouts. It remains to be seen what trend will emerge between a renewable movement or a continuation of unitary strikes.
In its press release of February 11, the inter-union also indicated that it “will seize March 8, the international day of struggle for women’s rights, to highlight the major social injustice of this reform against women”. Since then, a call for a “feminist strike” has been published on the site grevefeministe.fr. Among the signatories, we find, unsurprisingly, many feminist associations but also trade unions such as the CGT or the trade union Solidaires. However, the modalities of this movement are still unclear at the moment.
In addition, 13 youth organizations are calling for a “day of action and mobilization of youth on March 9”, including the student unions Unef, Alternative and Fage, or even the militant youth organizations of left-wing political parties. Here again, it is difficult to estimate for the moment what the magnitude of this movement will be.