A week following a major movement, a call for a new mobilization Thursday, January 20 in schools, colleges and high schools is launched to ask “strong responses” face au « chaos » caused by the health crisis, and massive investments in education.
The trade unions Unitary Union Federation (FSU), General Confederation of Labor – in particular Educ’action –, Force Ouvrière and SUD Education, as well as the Federation of Parents’ Councils, the first organization of parents of pupils, and the high school students’ movements Independent and Democratic High School Student Federation, National High School Movement and La Voix lycéenne called for “continue mobilization”, engaging “in a new day of action on January 20, including by strike”, in a press release.
This mobilization “must lead to a massive strike on January 27 as part of the interprofessional appeal” for wages and employment, they added. For these organizations, “the chaos generated by the management of the health crisis deserves strong responses, beyond the commitments made by the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Education” January 13.
“An urgent need for investment”
Teachers and other national education staff, exasperated by the waltz of health protocols linked to Covid-19, carried out a major strike on Thursday, following which the government promised them 5 million FFP2 masks and replacements, in particular with the recruitment of “3,300 more contract workers” and the use of complementary lists (candidates who passed the competition and were not recruited, but were well ranked). The government also announced that assessments of “Mi-CP” would be “postponed to a deadline that remains to be defined”, and that a possible postponement of the baccalaureate specialty tests, initially scheduled for March, would be studied.
Believing that these advertisements “are not sufficient”, the unions are calling for “immediately postpone the specialty tests”, at “cancel mid-CP assessments”, at “create all the positions necessary to ensure replacements, beyond the use of additional lists” and to “provide schools and establishments with sufficient protective equipment, well beyond the volumes announced”.
They feel that the school also has “an urgent need for investment”. They ask “a collective budget to allow massive recruitment and reduce the number of students in classes”, and call for “increase staff salaries”.
“Different forms of mobilization”
SUD Education had already called on Friday for a strike on January 20, while the SNUipp-FSU, the first primary school union, had announced “different forms of mobilization” in the coming weeks. The call for mobilization for Thursday is however less broad than for January 13, the teacher unions SE-UNSA, Snalc and SGEN-CFDT not having joined the movement this time.
Other modes of action are also recommended for Thursday, the SNUipp-FSU having notably proposed to the personnel “to mobilize everywhere in front of their schools during the meridian break by displaying “My school is cracking” and by broadcasting the images of this happening on social networks”.
