Canceled trains, stopped metros, both in Paris and in the provinces. Fuel shipments stopped and schools closed… What will the third day of mobilization scheduled for Tuesday February 7 against the pension reform look like, after those of January 19 and 31, and before a fourth meeting already given on Saturday February 11? Sector by sector, Le Parisien takes stock of the mobilization to come.
At the SNCF
The movement could harden in the railway sector where the unions have so far limited themselves to strike in fits and starts, on the occasion of interprofessional mobilization days. If the CGT Cheminots, SUD Rail, CFDT Cheminots and UNSA Ferroviaire have called for a walkout on February 7, the first two unions also invite railway workers not to work on February 8. We must therefore expect disturbances over at least 48 hours, without knowing to what extent. On January 31, 36.5% of railway workers were on strike, against 46% on January 19. “We are going to give a taste of a possible renewable strike”, warned Julien Troccaz, head of SUD Rail. It is still unclear what the guidelines will be for February 11.
At the RATP
The inter-union of the Paris transport authority called, in a press release, “all the agents of the company to continue and amplify the mobilization by the strike and the demonstration on Tuesday February 7 then on Saturday February 11 to say no to this pension reform. During previous strike days, several metro lines had been closed either completely or temporarily, at certain times and on certain segments, but the bus network had been relatively spared. The precise disturbances will not be known until Sunday evening.
In transport, elsewhere in France
The Paris region will not be the only one affected by the transport strikes. First, Intercités and TER traffic operated by SNCF will be affected. But also urban transport: in Lyon (Rhône), the transport network had been completely shut down on January 31 from 8:30 p.m. and a metro line had not run all day; in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), the metro and bus networks had also been turned upside down by the walkout of employees.
At airports
Again, we still don’t know what the disruptions will be. Still, the leading civil aviation union, the USACcgt, called on “all DGAC and ENAC personnel to go on massive strike and participate in demonstrations” on 7 February. As a result of a similar strike call, the DGAC had been forced to ask companies to cut 20% of their flights departing from Paris-Orly on January 19 and 31. Disruptions are also to be expected at other airports in France.
In schools
Bis repetita in schools? As of the end of the day of the mobilization of January 31, the inter-union had called to strike “even more massively”. According to the Ministry of National Education, the rate of striking teachers was 25.9% on Tuesday, against 38.5% on the first day of the strike. The Snuipp-FSU, accounted for 50% of first degree teachers on strike. In secondary school, the Snes-FSU mentioned a rate of 55% of striking teachers.
in the energy
In the refineries, the CGT continues its fight against the pension reform on its original schedule. A strike movement is planned there from February 6 to 8. “The crucial moment will be next week”, assured Éric Sellini, CGT coordinator for TotalEnergies on Tuesday. And the trade unionist anticipates tougher action to come: “For the strike to continue beyond February 8, the other services must take the necessary measures”, which requires “a shutdown of the installations”.
At EDF, the strike movement had been less followed on January 31 than on the 19th (40.3% against 44.5%, according to management), but there were still reductions in charges in the power stations. The unions have also filed a strike notice for the day of February 7.