[Article publié le jeudi 23 mars 2023 à 07h21 et mis à jour à 20h18] Emmanuel Macron’s television interview will have succeeded in tensing up the unions. The latter called this Thursday for a new day of action, the first since the pension reform law was adopted by parliamentarians. This Thursday evening, the Ministry of the Interior identified 1.08 million demonstrators in France, including 119,000 in Paris. The unions announced Thursday a tenth day of strikes and demonstrations, March 28, and local union rallies this weekend.
The mobilization broke a record in Paris and is up from the 8th day of mobilization on March 15, when 480,000 people took to the streets in France, according to Place Beauvau. According to the count by the Occurrence firm carried out for a media collective, including AFP, 83,000 people demonstrated in Paris. The CGT counts 800,000 demonstrators in the capital, and 3.5 million demonstrators in France.
The first processions attested to a clear rebound compared to the last day of mobilization, with, according to the authorities, 14,800 people in Rouen, and 18,000 in Montpellier. In Marseille, the unions counted 280,000 people and the prefecture 16,000.
Renewed mobilization in medium-sized towns
Participation also rose sharply in Lyon (22,000 to 55,000), Brest (20,000 to 40,000) or Montpellier (18,000 to 40,000), where the mobilization however remained below the peaks recorded, especially on January 31 and March 7. The revival was also observed in medium-sized cities such as Agen (4,000 to 6,000), Laval (5,200 to 9,600) or Valenciennes (3,100 according to the police). If the estimates varied most often from simple to double, some cities stood out with more pronounced differences, in particular Saint-Etienne (6,200 to 35,000), Nice (5,200 to 40,000)
Some 800,000 people demonstrated Thursday in Paris for the ninth day of mobilization, the CGT told AFP. Violence quickly erupted at the head of the procession: cobblestones, bottles and fireworks thrown at the police, broken windows and bus shelters and garbage can fires. The police headquarters, which identified “ regarding a thousand of radical elements in the capital, reported 14 arrests shortly before 5 p.m.
Tensions between protesters and police in several cities
Shortly before the departure of the Parisian procession, the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, noted a “ renewed mobilization and called ” to nonviolence “, adding that” until the end we will have to keep the opinion ” which is a ” nugget ».
A quarter of EDF employees on strike
On the participation side, the Ministry of Education identified 21.41% of striking teachers on Thursday, once morest 32.71% on March 7th. In detail, participation in the social movement amounts to 23.22% in primary and 19.61% in secondary (middle and high schools). Between 40 and 50% of strikers were expected in nursery and elementary schools, according to the Snuipp-FSU, the first primary union.
The highest strike rate among teachers dates from January 19, during the first day of action, with 42.35% in primary education and 34.66% in secondary education, according to ministry figures. The government has identified 15.5% of strikers in the state civil service at midday.
Just over a quarter of EDF employees (25.3%) stopped work Thursday at midday. This participation is up slightly compared to the previous day of mobilization, March 15, during which management had recorded 22.45% of strikers at midday compared to the total workforce of the company. On his side, Engie recorded 27.2% of strikers at midday (19.2% on March 15).
The shortage of petrol and diesel at service stations is growing. According to AFP, 15% of French stations lack one or the other on Thursday, and 7.65% of stations are dry.
15% of gas stations in short supply
The supply of kerosene to Ile-de-France and its airports via Normandy becomes critical “Because of strikes in refineries, the Ministry of Energy Transition told AFP on Thursday. Given this situation, the government issued a requisition order towards the strikers at the TotalEnergies refinery in Normandy. This refinery was shut down last weekend.
More than half of Loire-Atlantique service stations are affected by shortages of at least one fuel, and around one in six across France, according to public data analyzed Thursday by AFP. In total, 15.14% of service stations in France were short of at least one fuel at 9 a.m. this Thursday morning. Only one out of four TotalEnergies refineries is in operation.
Blocked high schools
Dozens of high schools and universities were blocked in France: in Paris, the University of Assas, blocked for the first time, the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand, as well as Racine, Rodin, Jules Ferry… Even thing for several establishments in Marseille, Toulouse and Rennes, among others.
The Ministry of National Education reported: 148 incidents in high schools in France, including 38 blockages, 70 filtering blockages, 14 attempted blockages and 26 other forms of disruption. The student union L’Aternative counted some 80 schools and universities mobilized in France, including around sixty blocked at least partially or occupied.
Black Thursday in transport
The FO-RATP union, the leading organization among metro drivers, called for this Thursday to be “ a dark day ” in the transports. However, if the traffic of the RER and the Paris metro will be ” very disturbed », it will be less than that observed at the beginning of the mobilization.
For Friday, the RATP expects normal traffic on Friday, except on lines A and B of the RER, according to a statement released Thursday. The management is counting on average on 3 trains out of 4 on the RER A and 2 trains out of 3 on the B, the interconnections being maintained. Metros, trams and buses must run normally.
At the SNCF, only half of the TGV Inoui and Ouigo, as well as a third of the TER are running. The provisional rate of strikers reached 25% Thursday noon at the SNCF. According to a union source, the mobilization is regaining strength, but remains much less than at the start of the mobilization. Some 15% of railway workers should be on strike on Friday, according to the same source.
Improvement of SNCF traffic on Friday
The SNCF plans on Friday for an improvement on the main lines and the TERs, with in particular 3 TGVs out of 5. SNCF Voyageurs plans to maintain three quarters of the TGVs Inoui and Ouigo, three fifths of the Intercités and three fifths of the TERs, indicated a carrier. speaking to AFP on Thursday. No night trains will run.
On the Ile-de-France rail network, train traffic will remain significantly disrupted, the lines most affected being the SNCF part of RER B (in the north), the RER C and E and the Transilien N and P lines, with 1 out of 2 trains. The management plans to run 3 trains out of 5 on average on the RER D and line R, but additional trains are planned on the D to serve the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Two-thirds of the scheduled trains will be maintained on lines H, J, L and U.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has asked airlines to cancel 30% of their flights at Paris-Orly and 20% at other airports, a request it reiterated this Thursday for the day of Friday.
The Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles, among other tourist sites in Paris and its region, were once once more closed to the public. The Arc de Triomphe, at the top of the Champs-Elysées, was also closed.
« There’s a grace period »
According to a source close to the government, the executive expects the mobilization ” withers “following Thursday’s demonstration, and that everything goes back to normal” ce week-end “. Emmanuel Macron also wants re-engage » a dialogue with the social partners on the relationship to work.
More ” you have to wait a few days, a few weeks “, he observed. Immediate response from Laurent Berger: “ These are empty words, for the moment, there is a big social conflict, a democratic crisis, a social crisis. Must be crazy, there is a delay of decency ».
The unions are fuming
The interview with the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron was watched by 10 million viewers on TF1 and France 2 on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ” This intervention will stir up anger “, affirmed on RTL the secretary general of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, who will leave the direction of the Confederation next week, during the 53rd Congress of the organization.
« Provocation comes from power “, he said, denouncing a comparison “ scandalous with the Capitol riots and the executive branch’s desire to ” break the strike by sending the police to the picket line. “ Denial and lie “, fumed his CFDT counterpart Laurent Berger, when Emmanuel Macron had just said that no union had offered a compromise on pensions.
(With AFP)