The strike of January 31 was very well attended in many sectors such as transport, schools or refineries, but the rate of strikers decreased compared to the previous mobilization according to figures from unions and authorities.
The strike of January 31 was again striking in its magnitude with many sectors affected: transport, schools, refineries, public services and so on. The strikers did not go unnoticed and their absence caused major disruptions, yet they seem to have been fewer in number to follow the social movement compared to the figures recorded on January 19. An observation both made by the authorities and the unions themselves, even if the gap between the two figures is still considerable.
In the streets, on the other hand, the unions are sure: “There are at least as many of us and according to the first figures it is even more numerous than on January 19 in all the cities”. A statement made with pride by Philippe Martinez, leader of the CGT, present in the Parisian procession on Tuesday. However, we will have to wait for the national figures from the unions and the Ministry of the Interior to have an idea of the extent of the strike on January 31.
Transport severely disrupted on January 31
All public transport, from the SNCF to the RATP via the regional transport networks were disrupted by the strike of January 31. It was at the SNCF that users encountered the most difficulties with only 1 TGV out of 3, 2 TER out of 10, a single round trip for the Intercités or even 1 train out of 10 for the Ile-de-France lines C, D, and E but also J, L, N, P, R. All these disturbances were caused by the absence of 36.5% of the striking employees (49.5% on January 19). A figure obtained by theAFP from a union source but not confirmed by SNCF management. For their part, the unions rather announce around 50% of strikers.
The RATP followed the strike movement with “very disrupted traffic on the RER and metro networks” but slightly less affected on the surface for buses or trams. It is not only in Paris that transport has malfunctioned. Disruptions occurred in all metropolises such as Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille and Strasbourg.
A less followed strike in schools
For the third time a call for a strike was launched in the schools and like the previous ones it was followed but with less intensity. On the eve of the day of mobilization, the Snuipp-FSU, the main primary union, announced a strike rate of 50% for primary school teachers. On January 31, the Snes-FSU, the majority secondary union, counted 55% of teachers on strike in colleges and high schools. These two estimates are lower than those reported by the unions on January 19, respectively 70% and 65%. Snuipp-FSU General Secretary Guislaine David acknowledged this difference but assured that there were still “very good figures which show who the protest movement against pension reform is taking hold in schools”.
The Ministry of National Education gave its own figures and counted 26.65% of striking teachers in primary schools and 25.22% of absent teachers in colleges and high schools. There again, it is less than during the strike of January 19th.
In addition to teachers, schools have also been disrupted by high school student unions and their calls for blockades. According to the intersyndicale de la jeunesse between 100 and 200 high schools were blocked during Tuesday, January 31, not without clashes since in places, especially in Paris, high school students accompanied by other demonstrators were confronted with the police.
Airports on strike on January 31?
Anger has also risen in airline companies. At the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC), the USAC-CGT had filed a strike notice for January 31 and asked for the reduction of flights organized during the day at Paris-Orly. Note that the CGT Air France had also called for a strike on Tuesday and the company was planning the cancellation of a tenth flight for short and medium haul.
At Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, a more discreet strike was also organized. Blocking the air sector was above all a strategy to weigh on the economy, as indicated by RMCLoris Foreman, CGT delegate in a Roissy company: “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?
The refineries, which have been very active in social movements since the beginning of the year, and even since the fall, took part in the strike on 31 January. On the various sites of TotalEnergie, the CGT counted between 75% and 100% of striking employees. But these figures have been significantly revised downwards by the management of the oil company, which announced a rate of strikers of 55% on average on all its sites.
In detail, the CGT announced 75% strikers at the Normandy refinery, 80% in Feyzin (Rhône), 90% in Donges (Loire-Atlantique) and at the La Mède bio-refinery (Bouches-du-Rhône ) and 100% at the Flandres fuel depot (North).
On the side of energy and power plants, the strike also took place but the figures communicated did not concern so much the number of strikers as that of the quantity of energy lost. EDF employees actually preferred to carry out so-called “Robin Hood” operations by distributing free electricity to certain establishments (hospitals, schools, public housing) and lowering electricity production. The CGT thus announced a drop in production of 3000 MW in nuclear power plants at midday. The management of EDF also revealed the number of professionals on strike: 40.3%, against 44.5% on January 19 for production cuts estimated between 5,000 MW according to RTE and 7,000 MW by the CGT.
The strike followed in the public services?
In the civil service, the unions continue to campaign against the pension reform, especially against the postponement of the legal age and had called in a press release on state, territorial and hospital civil servants “to participate actively” in the strike of January 31 . Among the public services affected by the January 31 strike were also those provided by La Poste (a private company responsible for public service missions).
Town halls closed for the January 31 strike
Dozens of town halls had announced it and closed their doors for the January 31 strike, like the town hall of Paris. The municipalities, almost all of them on the left, closed all day or during demonstrations organized in their city to allow public officials to go to the rallies. “In concrete terms, 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 are the crèche and the stopover for homeless women remain open,” said the Paris City Hall team.