SNCF, RATP, school, health… What mobilization can we expect on Friday October 13, 2023 for the national and interprofessional strike? What are the demands? We take stock.
Five months after the promulgation of the pension reform and above all, three days before the “social conference” on low wages whose vocation is above all to relaunch dialogue, the inter-union is calling for a day of national and inter-professional strike on Friday October 13, 2023. Objective: to mobilize for “purchasing power and the increase in salaries, pensions and social minimums”, indicates the communicated. If the call has been relayed in many sectors, it remains to be seen what the participation will be, while the French have already mobilized a lot at the start of the year against the pension reform. In transport, in national education or even in the health sector, here are the forecasts:
SNCF transport disrupted and flights canceled?
Any disruptions to SNCF train traffic will only be known on the eve of the strike, at 5 p.m. But the transport company wants to be reassuring and has indicated to BFMTV that traffic will be “almost normal on high-speed trains” this Friday, October 13. If the TGV will a priori be spared, this will not be the case for certain regional TER, Transiliens and Intercités lines. Travelers on these lines are therefore advised to exercise caution in maintaining their journey. The main unions in the sector, the CGT Cheminots, Sud Rail and the CFDT Cheminot and later the Unsa, relayed the call “to go on strike and demonstrate” to all employees. On the RATP side, the CGT branch has called on agents to take part in the strike, but no disruption is planned for the moment. Here too, details of the disruptions are expected the day before the strike.
The October 13 strike risks being followed at airports, notably Paris-Orly which has already announced the cancellation of 40% of flights on Friday at the request of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation. Flight programs must also be reduced by 20% in Marseille-Provence and by 15% in Beauvais. Further delays or cancellations are possible due to the strike by air traffic controllers and air navigation managers. All are demanding better pay and improved working conditions.
The call for strike launched in schools, colleges and high schools
The call to strike from FSU-SNUipp, the first nursery and elementary school union, should be followed. All teachers intending to strike must make themselves known to management this Wednesday at the latest, required by the obligation to declare themselves 48 hours in advance. Parents will therefore be notified and an initial estimate of participation could be made before the strike.
Middle and high school teachers should also have been invited to strike by the SNES-FSU, as well as those in higher education and research. In schools at all levels, strikes in ancillary services such as catering or daycare for the youngest are also likely to be disrupted by the strike.
A “black Friday” among doctors
The health sector is expected to be one of the most affected by the October 13 strike. All the unions representing private doctors are launching a historic call for a strike after the failure of negotiations with Health Insurance on the price of consultations. The inter-union assured on Tuesday October 10 that “Friday October 13 will undoubtedly be a black Friday” in medical practices. She calls for a cessation of all activities and the president of the Union of Surgeons of France, Philippe Cuq, added that “all consultation activities, technical procedures are canceled. Emergencies will be transferred to the public hospital.”
The main demand of the doctors concerns the revaluation of the prices of consultations and the resumption of negotiations. The previous ones only led to an increase of €1.50 to bring the price to €26.50 when the doctors asked for a price set at a minimum of €30.
A strike from Wednesday for the energy sector?
The CGT Mines-Energie, the main union in the sector, called on employees to strike ahead of the national inter-professional movement. The movement must begin this Wednesday, October 11 and last all day Thursday, in parallel with salary negotiations. “We are calling for a strike and the resumption of work tools by collective decision,” trade unionist Fabrice Coudour told AFP. During their strike, employees could decide to reduce electricity production from 9 p.m. on October 11. The CGT was not, however, followed by the three other unions.
Few people in the demonstrations on October 13?
If the October 13 strike could be followed in these sectors, it should not push crowds into the streets according to the territorial intelligence service. The latter expects around 200 “moderately unifying” events and anticipates the participation of 125,000 to 150,000 people throughout France, according to a note consulted by BFMTV. Timid figures which could be explained by a form of “perceptible resignation among workers” after the lack of results of the mobilizations, although very well attended, against the pension reform.
With limited participation, intelligence considers the risk of incidents “limited”. Only a few cities “traditionally conducive to the overflow of the radical sphere”, including “the ultra-left” or “the radicalized yellow vests”, could be exceptions. In Paris for example “100 to 200 elements at risk” could join the demonstration estimated at 15,000 people.