Transport, fuel, schools… The unions are now calling for a renewable strike in many sectors, against the pension reform.
Par Thibaut Deleaz
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C’left for the renewable strike. The unions are now calling on employees to mobilize every day against the pension reform. The goal, assumed: to hold the “blockage” of the country initiated this Tuesday, March 7 to bend the government. And this Wednesday, March 8, International Women’s Rights Day, should serve as fuel for mobilization. The organizations are calling on women in particular to strike out and pound the pavement to denounce the reform, which would be more “unfair” for them, but also to demand equality, in particular pay, at work.
Driven by the good prospects for this Tuesday, the unions are already planning an “out of the ordinary dynamic” for this March 8, with demonstrations planned in around 150 cities, two to three times more than in previous years. In parallel, the movement will continue in transport, schools, but also refineries. Should we expect a second day of chaos? We take stock.
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Transports
At the SNCF, all the unions are calling for a renewable strike. On Wednesday March 8, train traffic will again be “severely disrupted”. Count one in three TGV and Ouigo, one in five Intercités (and no night trains) and one in three TER. In Île-de-France, all RER and Transilien lines will be disrupted, with one train in three or one train in five depending on the line.
On the RATP side, whose special regime for new agents must be abolished by the reform, the inter-union also wants a renewable strike. The board provides for “very disrupted” traffic on Wednesday on the metro and the RER A and B for which it is responsible, but slightly better than the day before. Only line 8 will operate partially and at peak times only, the others will have one train in two to one train in three with an end of service sometimes anticipated. Count two RER A out of three and one RER B out of two, but normal traffic on the tram and almost normal on the bus.
Air
As for Tuesday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has asked airlines to reduce their flight schedule this Wednesday, March 8. They must cancel 20% of the flights scheduled at Roissy airport and 30% at the airports of Beauvais, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Paris-Orly, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, Nice and Toulouse. A minimum service has also been put in place, but “disruptions and delays” are to be expected on the flights maintained.
Fuel
In the refineries, the CGT hopes to mobilize enough to shut down the sites. On the first day of the renewable strike, Tuesday March 7, the union claimed to have blocked fuel shipments to all refineries. What lead to shortages in service stations as in the fall? At the time, the government had resorted to requisitions to unblock the situation. “This time we will prevent them, by mass convergence in front of the requisitioned sites”, warned a CGT official. But the tankers have more than one trick up their sleeve, and claim to be ready to hold supplies thanks to strategic stocks.
Education
The teachers’ unions are calling for the strike to be renewed on Wednesday 8 March. The Snuipp, first representative of the primary, ensures that the mobilization “already looks very important Wednesday, March 8 as part of the day of struggle for women’s rights”.
High school and college students could also join the protests. Youth organizations are calling for mobilization this Wednesday, before a new day on Thursday, specifically dedicated to young people.
Energy
The reform also plans to abolish the special regime for new entrants to the electricity and gas industries. Mobilized since Friday, the employees of EDF on strike promise a “dark week”. Their actions are reducing electricity production by several thousand megawatts every day, without any consequences for the moment.
Waste
The garbage collectors are also called to the renewable strike. In Paris, waste is no longer collected in several districts, and one of the three incinerators near the capital is shut down, blocked by strikers.