STRIKES MARCH. The calendar of events for the month of March promises to be busy. On March 7, 8 and 9, various mobilizations are planned throughout the country. What is the program already announced?
[Mis à jour le 3 mars 2023 à 9h57] March promises to be a socially busy month. Guest this March 3 on BFM TV the deputy secretary of the CFDT, Marylise Léon warned that for the 7th and subsequent dates of mobilization, it will be a question of “moving up a gear and having even more important mobilizations”. The watchword had already been announced: “Put France to a halt”.
What about the continuation of the protest movement? The unions are already preparing the continuation of the demonstrations. The Parisian had announced the dates of March 11 and 14, information denied by the unions who declared in a communicated that date is not on the agenda. All the unions will meet after the day of March 7 in order to plan the continuation of the movement and to announce it officially. For now, a mobilization is already planned for March 8, Women’s Day. Some trade unionists and demonstrators will join the processions to denounce a reform “unfair for women”. On March 9, several youth actions are also planned. March 7, 8 and 9 therefore promise to be socially charged.
For his part, the government spokesperson warns that “putting the country to a halt means taking the risk of an ecological, agricultural, health or even human disaster in a few months”. A reaction mocked by the unions. So what should we expect concretely for the rest of the movement during the month of March 2023?
Tuesday, March 7 is the next big meeting for the unions for the fight against pension reform. The inter-union calls in a press release to “put France on hold in all sectors” for this day. If the question of a hardening of the movement with renewable strikes is not unanimous among the various organizations of the inter-union, the unions of certain sectors have already called for the renewable strike from March 7th. But the CGT is the only organization to call for a renewable strike, following the example of its branch of the RATPutilities and transport.
Another point must still be clarified by the strike of March 7: that of blockages. For Philippe Martinez, secretary general of the CGT, there is no doubt that the mobilization must block the country, in particular the refineries and the power stations, while on the side of the CFDT, Laurent Berger supports the shutdown of the country but dissociates itself from blocking initiatives, ensuring that it sees a major difference between the two actions.
In a press release published on February 11, the intersyndicale wrote 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”. A call for “the feminist strike” has since been launched on the site grevefeministe.fr.
“We are calling for a feminist strike to win equality at work and in our lives, to guarantee our economic independence. In France, the government is once again attacking women head-on with a pension reform that will hit them hard. At the heart of the fight against this reform, March 8 is an opportunity to bring the situation and demands of women to the forefront and to amplify the mobilization”, can we read on this call which has was signed by many feminist associations, but also by trade unions such as the CGT or the Union Syndicale Solidaires. It remains to be seen how this call will translate in terms of walkouts and demonstrations.
13 youth organizations, including the student unions Unef, Alternative and Fage, or the militant organizations Les Jeunes Socialistes, Les Jeunes Ecologistes and Les Jeunes Insoumis, are calling for a “day of action and mobilization of youth on 9 march to denounce and highlight the impact of the reform on young people and impose real social protection for young people”, in a joint press release published on February 16. Young people are also called upon to participate in the mobilization days on March 7 and 8. Until then, however, there is no question for young people to reduce the pressure. The action plan of the high school and student organizations is simple: weekly actions organized every Thursday until March 7 before the mobilization day of March 9.
A day of demonstration on Saturday March 11?
The intersyndicale is getting ahead and has started discussions on the next mobilization date even before the March 7 strike began. The Parisian before the day of Saturday March 11, which is reminiscent of the previous and only day of demonstration organized on a weekend, February 11. It is moreover the “success” of this mobilization outside the week which would have influenced the unions: “On February 11 […]has enabled families and workers who cannot strike to join the movement. It would be useful to reproduce an event like this”. If the federations take up the same pattern, we should not expect strikes but hundreds of processions all over France to protest against the bill. Still according to The Parisian, the date of March 14 would also be discussed. In a press release, the intersyndicale denied the information from the daily: “The intersyndicale (…) denies that other dates, such as March 11 and 14, are on the agenda”. The unions will meet on Tuesday evening March 7 to plan the rest of the schedule.
The strikes are set to last and especially to extend until March, because the hardened mobilizations announced from March 7 should call for others. Until then, a few trade union or political rallies and meetings are planned as on February 27 with two meetings: that of the unions set at 5 p.m. in front of the Senate and that given by the Nupes at 7 p.m. in Amiens in the present of François Ruffin (LFI), Olivier Faure (PS), Marine Tondelier (EELV) and Ian Brossat (PCF). Still, the mobilizations have been paused since February 16, a day of strike which had marked time with 440,000 demonstrators are 1.27 million previously, according to the police.
This break, however, made it possible to give the workers some respite and to consider a – perhaps – unprecedented mobilization at the next meeting and those that will follow. To know the rest of the social calendar, very busy since the beginning of 2023, we will surely have to wait for the mobilization day of March 7 and an inter-union meeting. Unless, to remobilize the troops and impose themselves against the government, the unions wish to anticipate and organize the struggle over time by announcing new days of mobilization in advance.