While the mobilization has equaled the record of January 31, the executive is counting on the acceleration of parliamentary debates.
Free toll in Saint-Avold (Moselle), “targeted” power cut in Périgueux (Dordogne), blocking of a bus depot in Saint-Denis… As announced, some 360 actions were recorded by police sources during the day of mobilization this Tuesday, March 7. All over the country, employees, bosses, traders, self-employed… all were called upon to go on strike, even for an hour or two. The goal: “Put France to a halt”, as the intersyndicale had announced a few weeks earlier. The first stage of a hardening of the dispute, assumed by the representatives of employees.
“From the start, we warned the government that if it did not suspend its reform, we would raise the intensity a notch”, justifies Cyril Chabanier, president of the CFTC. However, the five previous days of action, between mid-January and mid-February, did not make it possible to obtain sufficient concessions, according to the unions, which have been demanding from the start the withdrawal of article 7 postponing the age starting legal from 62 to 64 years old.
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This March 7 is therefore the first scene of Act II in the fight against pension reform. A day which, in itself, will condition the follow-up to be given to the movement. In recent days, the only watchword was to do better than January 31, the high point of the dispute. While territorial intelligence forecast 1.4 million demonstrators the day before, against 1.27 million five weeks earlier, there were, from police sources, 1.28 million demonstrators on Tuesday, including 81,000 in Paris. A police source noted “some blocks and actions” Tuesday morning in front of industrial sites and depots, “but without a strong mobilization”. A few incidents caused by the ultra-left were to be deplored in Paris, where 43 people were arrested, in Marseilles and Nantes, but remained sporadic.
“Two crucial weeks”
“If we say from the start that we are going to toughen up the movement and we don’t do it, we lose our credibility.“Admitted, however, Cyril Chabanier, well aware that the next few weeks will be decisive. Several union leaders believe that the government is playing for time, by speeding up the parliamentary process and hoping that the uproar will decrease once the law is passed. “We have two crucial weeks ahead of us, we are clearly not going to call for a slowdown,” indicates Yvan Ricordeau, CFDT national secretary. Tuesday evening, the inter-union, which asks to be received by Emmanuel Macron, announced two new days of demonstrations, the first of which will take place this Saturday, March 11. The second will take place on the day of the meeting of the joint committee which brings together senators and deputies, possibly on Wednesday, March 15.
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Whatever the slogan, several federations have already decided to play their own part. This is the case among railway workers, who are calling for a renewable strike. The secretary general of Unsa-ferroviaire, Didier Mathis, has set a goal: “We must carry out a renewable strike of at least ten days and block Paris for at least two weekends.” It remains to be seen whether these strongholds will be followed. For the moment, the day of March 8 promises to be difficult. The RATP plans Wednesday “Traffic improving compared to the day of March 7, but which remains very disturbed”. Thus, on line A of the RER, there will be 2 trains out of 3, against only 1 out of 2 at peak times and 1 out of 3 at off-peak hours on Tuesday. On lines 9 and 10, 1 in 2 metro will run instead of 1 in 3 on Tuesday. On the other hand, the RATP and SNCF unions are not yet planning for the weekend.
Roll back the government
The intersyndicales of the two public groups have planned to meet separately on Thursday to consider the rest of the movement. With one certainty: the railway workers and the agents of the Paris metro will only continue the movement if they are not alone in stopping work. They keep a bitter memory of the winter of 2019-2020, during which they had to endure a strike of several weeks against the pension reform, without employees from other sectors entering the dance.
Perhaps because of the wait-and-see attitude, the number of strikers did not explode among energy companies, who had nevertheless announced that they wanted “disrupt the economy”, last Thursday. At EDF, there is 41.5% participation at midday, against 44.5% on January 19 and 40.3% on January 31. Similar trend at Engie which noted 39.4% of strikers at midday, against 40% on January 19 and 34.3% on January 31.
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Officially, all these initiatives have only one goal: to roll back the government. A wishful thinking, according to the determination displayed by the executive, where it is assured that there is no question of giving in on the main principles of the text. These can be summed up in four points, hammered home by the ministers: restore financial balance by 2030 to ensure the sustainability of the pay-as-you-go system; raise the legal retirement age to 64; increase the value of small pensions; and better take into account long, choppy or difficult careers. So many elements which should cross without difficulty the hedge of the examination in the Senate, where the left does not however despair of obtaining a victory. But she knows the bar is high.
Maneuvers inside the unions
In the street on Tuesday, from a flocked truck in communist colors, the former national secretary of the PCF and senator from Paris Pierre Laurent denounced “the senatorial right and the government” Who “walk hand in hand”. Not far away, during a joint declaration to the elected representatives of Nupes, deputies and senators, the boss of the PS, Olivier Faure, launched a symbolic appeal “to the Gaullist deputies, if there are any left”, for when the text will return to the Assembly, in the wake of the joint joint committee which will bring together deputies and senators next week.
In the meantime, from Marseille where he has been following most of the mobilizations since January, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has asked for the organization of a “referendum” or a «dissolution» of the Assembly to avoid blocking the country. But, behind the political showdown, there are also maneuvers inside the unions, some of which have very different aims. This is particularly true at the CGT, which holds its congress at the end of March. The secretary general, Philippe Martinez, announced a long time ago that he would step down and would like to see the secretary general of the federation of education, research and culture, Marie Buisson, succeed him.
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But the end of the reign whets the appetites, and several heads of federation covet the place. Many see this pension reform as a launching pad for the upcoming elections and are playing the confrontation card. “During discussions with the government last fall, they were warned that this period was nonsense. They didn’t want to know.” explains a trade unionist on condition of anonymity.
SEE ALSO – Pensions: the inter-union calls for two new days of mobilization