STRIKE OF MARCH 7. The union’s watchword for March 7 is “France at a standstill”. Transport, energy, schools, delivery people… the point on the disruptions to come.
[Mis à jour le 1 mars 2023 à 12h04] “France at a standstill” this Tuesday, March 7? This is the objective hammered out for weeks by the inter-union. Many sectors should be impacted in transport (trains, metros, buses, planes and even on the roads), schools, garbage collectors, platform deliverers too. The government’s response is not long in coming, Olivier Véran invited on BFM-RMC this March 1st said “that the worst thing would be to block the country”. During this interview, the government spokesman said that the executive was “listening” but that there remained “a point of disagreement, it is the fact that the French are asked to work longer”.
A majority MP said a BFM TV that the mobilization day of “March 7 comes a little late after the battle” adding that “the time for mobilization has passed a bit and people have understood that the reform will be adopted”. On their side, the unions do not want to let go of the government. Philippe Martinez, guest of French Culture this March 1 declared to “trust the imagination of the employees to act in the way they wish, but every day, in a renewable way” and “in various forms” wished the secretary general of the CGT.
The unions of certain professions have already called for a 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. “If the government still does not hear the determination of the workers, the youth and all those who support this united movement to express their anger at this new injustice, it will have to assume the blocking of the economy in our country” have warned the RATP unions (CGT, FO, UNSA, CFE-CGC).
On the side of the SNCF, the four main unions have approved a renewable movement. The CGT, Sud-Rail, the CFDT-Cheminots and as well as the UNSA are thus calling for a renewable strike from March 7. Before the official announcements, the Minister Delegate for Transport had warned that getting around on March 7 “will be hard”. Clément Beaune called on the French to “shift, postpone” their trips and also to resort to teleworking, he asked at the microphone of South-Radio.
Snail operations could also limit movement on the roads. The employees of Heuliez bus in Rorthais have adopted, under the proposal of their FO and CFDT unions, a snail operation for March 7. As reported The New Republic road traffic must be slowed down from 12:30 p.m. on both lanes in the Cholet-Bressuire direction, between Rorthais and the capital of Bocage.
Charles de Gaulle airport disrupted?
As relayed by the specialized media Tour Mag, the unions of the ADP group called on their members to block Paris-CDG airport on March 7 and to demonstrate in front of the 2E terminal at door 17. A union delegate explained to the media that they were calling on “all employees to stop the work, for the blockage, no one will go on the slopes, but the impact will be very real. We are already sorry for the users”. The CGT Air France also asked employees to strike within Air France.
The garbage collectors’ strike
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 blocking of refineries from March 6?
The CGT Chemistry Federation (Fnic-CGT), which includes the refineries, also calls 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, 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.
Schools closed on March 7
Finally, the education unions, in a press release published on February 14, announced a strike on March 7, with the aim of “completely close schools, colleges, high schools and services”. Until then, many other sectors such as energy should join the movement. It remains to be seen what trend will emerge between a renewable movement or a continuation of unitary strikes.
UberEats, Deliveroo, JustEat… No deliveries on March 7?
The CGT Transports called on the delivery people of platforms like UberEats, JustEat or Deliveroo to participate in the strike against the pension reform of March 7. The union expressed itself in a press release: “Faced with remarks disconnected from all reality, the CGT Transports calls on the delivery people to organize themselves to decide on their demands in order to make them succeed, and to mobilize from March 7. next, by the stoppage of work and the demonstration”, recounts 20 minutes. It is difficult to predict whether the deliverers will respond, because they are not employees, but qualified as self-employed.
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.