disruptions expected for school holidays

SNCF, RATP, refineries… The unions want to continue the mobilization once morest the pension reform as the winter holidays approach.




Par Thibaut Deleaz

Two new days of mobilization are scheduled for February 7 and 11.
Two new days of mobilization are scheduled for February 7 and 11.
© JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

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After two very well-attended mobilizations and a government that does not seem ready to back down on its pension reform, will the unions come to a standstill during the school holidays? In the Parisian procession on Tuesday January 31, many demonstrators saw it as the only way to bend the executive. We are not there yet, but with the school holidays starting on February 4 for zone A and the time being counted for the debate in Parliament, which must be held in a maximum of fifty days, the new mobilizations will not avoid the holidays. ‘winter.

On the union side, the blame is blamed on the executive. “From the moment the government persists in what causes conflict, there is the possibility of days of action during school holidays”, warned Philippe Martinez, boss of the CGT, on RTL. On the government side, we play on the sensitive chord of the holidays by shaking the memory of the SNCF strike which of Christmas. “We will do everything so that the French who work can take a little deserved rest”, tackled in return Gabriel Attal on TF1. The next two strike dates are known: February 7 and 11, but each sector is multiplying its days of action in parallel. We take stock.

READ ALSOStrike of January 31: “it’s going to blow up”, in Paris anger is rising

Transports

At the SNCF, the CGT has already planned a two-day mobilization on February 7 and 8, during the first week of vacation in zone A. The inter-union met this Wednesday 1is February to decide how to proceed. Sud-Rail should be added to the 48-hour movement, and the CFDT and the UNSA should only disengage on Tuesday 7, according to BFMTV. A strike on February 11, a day of national mobilization falling on a Saturday to rally non-striking private sector employees, is still pending for railway workers. The CGT also warned that if the mobilization did not weaken, it would propose a renewable strike from mid-February.

On the RATP side, on the front line, because its special regime is threatened by the reform, the inter-union calls the agents to strike on February 7 and 11. During the first two days of action, the movement was widely followed and paralyzed most metro lines, only open at rush hour and on part of their route. For the rest, the unions call “to continue and amplify the mobilization”.

READ ALSOJean Castex braves the hell of the RATP

Refineries

In the refineries, the CGT had, from the outset, unilaterally planned three periods of action. A first of 24 hours on January 19, then 48 hours on January 26 and 27 and a new 72 hours from February 6 to 8. It might then offer employees an indefinite strike. If the French have in mind the strike last fall, which caused long shortages in service stations, the movement of refineries has so far had little impact. But the CGT coordinator at TotalEnergies, Éric Sellini, told Agence France-Presse that “the crucial moment will be next week”, calling for “stops” at production sites.

Lifts

In the ski lifts, some unions have filed an unlimited strike notice. But they promised that it was only for an administrative reason and not to use it unlimited so as not to destabilize the stations already in very bad shape following years disrupted by the Covid-19.


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