The president of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, announced two new dates for farmers to mobilize in December. The SNCF and the Civil Service have also planned actions in the coming days.
All sectors are mobilized in December to denounce working conditions, measures specific to their sector or to oppose the consequences of the bill concerning the 2025 budget in their profession. Friday November 29, the president of the FNSEA – the first French agricultural union – Arnaud Rousseau, announced two new days of mobilization which should be massively followed: December 9 and 10. As a reminder, farmers are leading the most significant mobilization since November 18 and the movement must continue at the end of the year.
Added to their mobilization is that of the SNCF which began on Thursday November 21, but which could resume for an unlimited period in the coming days. At the SNCF, we denounce the competition for certain lines and the dismantling of certain services, while among farmers it is the working conditions and the free trade agreement with Mercosur which crystallize the anger. Finally, the Civil Service is protesting against the measures taken by its ministry on waiting days and compensation for sick leave. National Education has, for its part, planned a “strike across the entire territory on December 5, 2024”, as announced in a press release published in mid-November.
Farmers: new mobilizations on December 9 and 10
The mobilization of farmers has been uninterrupted since November 18 at the call of 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. All the unions, including the Peasant Confederation, have mobilized, and all plan to continue the movement in the coming days. The FNSEA thus announced a new series of mobilizations from Monday December 9 to Tuesday December 10.
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. More recently, this Thursday, November 28, they attacked public institutions, including Anses and Inrae, by erecting symbolic walls in front of their entrances.
Since then, the FNSEA has already planned new mobilizations “all over France” on December 9 and 10. This 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 commercial relations, 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.
Strike at the SNCF: a movement renewable every 24 hours from December 11?
The threat of a renewable strike on SNCF trains from next Wednesday, December 11 is receding. Thursday, November 21, the strike movement presented as an “ultimatum” before this date, if no response was provided to the demands of the inter-union, was little followed. According to the CGT union, only one in four railway workers was on strike that day. A figure which distances itself from the level of mobilization of strikes in recent years. The disruptions on the rails were in fact concentrated only on regional trains.
“The French don’t want this strike at Christmas, we understand them, and above all there are no reasons,” declared Jean-Pierre Farandou, CEO of SNCF, on RTL. The CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail and the CFDT-Cheminots called for a major movement in response to the confirmation of the dismantling of Fret SNCF on January 1 and to denounce the opening to competition. “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.
Strike in the Civil Service: a day of “action” and “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. An agreement was reached to organize a mobilization and oppose the measures desired by the government and Minister Guillaume Kasbarian concerning the extension of the waiting period for the civil service to three days, compared to one currently.
Only the FO union did not join the call and instead preferred to maintain its proposal to carry out a three-day renewable strike “at the same time as the railway workers’ strike”, i.e. on November 21, the secretary said. general of the UIAFP-FO, Christian Grolier, to the AFP. “We are going to take the minister’s game at its word: three days of waiting time, three days of strike,” the trade unionist already said after a meeting of the organizations with the minister.
This is also happening on the national education side with the filing of a social alert against job cuts, without calls for strikes, for the moment. Professionals in the health and social action sector, on the other hand, have filed a strike notice which can be extended inter-unionly. Municipal police officers also filed a strike notice on Friday, with the National Public Security Union.