New strong mobilization against pension reform in France

PARIS (Reuters) – The French once again appeared strongly mobilized on Tuesday against the government’s pension reform project, which the main trade union organizations oppose in a rare united front and a large part of the opposition.

Building on the success of the first day of national mobilization, the intersyndicale called for an even more massive movement than that of January 19, which brought together more than a million demonstrators across France, according to the authorities, more than two million according to the CGT.

At the start of the Paris demonstration, at the start of the afternoon on the Place d’Italie, the general secretary of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, announced higher figures than those of the first day of mobilization for the rallies which took place took place in the morning in the provinces, even if the number of strikers seemed to be decreasing in certain sectors.

“What comes back to us from the different places of demonstrations is better than January 19,” approved his CFDT counterpart, Laurent Berger. “We have the feeling that we are going to make even more demonstrators, which is a real signal for the government. It is very mobilized in the private sector, in metallurgy, social, health …”

The opposition is also increasing the pressure as the reform project began its legislative journey in the National Assembly on Monday.

At Les Républicains (LR, right), on which the government is counting to obtain a parliamentary majority, it is indicated that the reform will not be voted “as it stands”.

The number two of the party Aurélien Pradié on Tuesday conditioned his vote on the adoption of an amendment tabled by his party so that people who started working before the age of 21 can retire after 43 annuities, even if they have not reached the legal age of 64.

For their part, the left and the far right, both opposed to the reform, intend to put President Emmanuel Macron in even more difficulty by demanding the organization of a referendum on the reform, which is very unpopular in the opinion.

“A FORM OF INSURRECTION”

Marching on Tuesday in Marseille, the city of which he is a deputy, Jean-Luc Mélenchon declared that a referendum motion tabled by the left alliance Nupes would be debated on Monday in the Assembly, the National Rally (extreme right) assuring for its part that it is his text that will be examined.

“It’s a historic day,” said the elected official of La France insoumise (LFI) about the mobilization of the day. “We are entering a new phase (…) It is a form of insurrection (…) Macron is certain to lose.”

The strike movement severely disrupted activity in certain sectors, in particular at SNCF and RATP, which announced on Monday that traffic would be very limited, including for TGVs, or even almost zero on certain lines.

But for the unions, the challenge will be to maintain momentum as inflation erodes purchasing power and recent strikes to demand wage increases have undermined the ability to mobilize.

On Tuesday, the rate of strikers already appeared to be down compared to January 19 in several companies or sectors of activity, even if the impact of the social movement remained significant.

At the SNCF, despite the massive disturbances, a union source mentioned 36.5% of strikers at midday, or about 10 percentage points less than twelve days ago.

At EDF, 40.3% of employees were on strike, slightly less than on January 19 (44.5%), according to management figures. Electricity production was down about 5%, or 3.4 gigawatts.

The trend was similar at Engie, which reported 34.3% strikers, against 40% on the previous day of mobilization.

NEW STRIKE CALLS

In the refineries, the CGT said to have reached rates of 75 to 100% of strikers, figures disputed by TotalEnergies which mentioned 55% of strikers in all of its refining and depot sites. The oil giant indicated that shipments of refined products were once again interrupted, while ensuring “that there is no lack of fuel in our stations”.

The Ministry of National Education put forward a rate of strikers of 23.52%, against 35.15% on January 19. In colleges and high schools alone, it reached 25.22%, according to the ministry, the unions speaking on their side of 55%.

While the inter-union must meet in the evening to decide on the follow-up to be given to the movement, a new call for a strike has already been launched at EDF and in the other companies in the electricity and gas industries, from 6 to February 8, coinciding with similar initiatives at the SNCF and in the refineries.

Beyond the strikes, more than 250 demonstrations were planned for Tuesday throughout France, according to the CGT, in which not only employees participated, but also students and retirees.

“If there is a rejection of this reform, it is also because we have poor working conditions, we are understaffed, salaries do not evolve with inflation,” Julien told Reuters. Bresson, UNSA trade unionist at Air France, at the start of the Parisian procession. “There is a link with the quality of work and the huge rejection of this reform.”

“Do we have a president and a government that listens to anger?” Asked Philippe Martinez before the departure of the procession. Otherwise, he warned, “the tension will rise”.

The government had mobilized some 11,000 police and gendarmes on Tuesday, a thousand more than on January 19, to avoid any overflow.

SEE AS ​​WELL:

BOX-Main strike calls and disruptions on Tuesday in France

CHRONOLOGY of pension reforms in France since 1993

BOX-France-The main measures of the pension reform

(Written by Blandine Hénault and Tangi Salaün, with contributions from Layli Foroudi, Bertrand Boucey and Benoît van Overstraeten, edited by Kate Entringer)