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Tens of thousands of private sector employees, civil servants, retirees and high school students demonstrated this Thursday in France to demand wage increases.
“Everything increases, except our salaries! Three months before the presidential election, and while the question of purchasing power tops the concerns of voters in the polls, several tens of thousands of people marched in France at the call of the unions CGT, FO , FSU and Solidaires, and several youth organizations.
This day ” is the convergence of all the mobilizations ” since several weeks ” in all sectors “Said the number one of the CGT, Philippe Martinez. ” Today too many employees in activity, too many pensioners find it difficult to find accommodation, to heat themselves more difficult, to move (…) and the answer cannot be substitutes, bandages at the last moment “, also estimated Yves Veyrier (Force Ouvrière).
In Paris, the procession – with 20,000 participants, according to the CGT – set off shortly after 2 p.m. from Place de la Bastille in the direction of Bercy, behind a banner proclaiming: “General increase in wages, pensions, social minima, it is urgent”. Political figures were present, and in particular the candidates for the presidential election next April Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), Yannick Jadot (EELV) and Fabien Roussel (PCF).
The dividend has been constantly increasing for 25 years. Each year, it increases, while wages stagnate, or even decrease for certain categories.
Demonstration for wages: in the Parisian procession
Demonstrations also took place in Marseille, Lille, Strasbourg, Rennes, Bordeaux, Saint-Etienne… In all, the CGT identified ” over 150,000 » people mobilized at 170 demonstrations and rallies. A count by the Ministry of the Interior carried out at 5 p.m. counted 89,000, including 8,800 in Paris. The previous day of interprofessional national mobilization, on October 5, had brought together 85,400 people according to the Ministry of the Interior; more than 160,000 according to the CGT.
The government says, very attentive » to purchasing power
The teachers, already in the street on January 13 and 20 to protest against the management of the Covid-19 health crisis, were present in the various processions, with signs targeting their minister Jean-Michel Blanquer. At the end of the morning, the ministry reported 8 to 9% of strikers in the first and second degree. Excluding education, the rate of strikers in the state civil service was estimated at around 4.4% at the end of the day, according to the Ministry of Transformation and Public Service.
The unions are calling for an increase in the minimum wage and the index point for civil servants, and more generally of all salaries, allowances and retirement pensions, in a context of high inflation (+2.8% over one year in December) and record dividends.
Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne stressed for her part on the CNews channel on Thursday that the government was “ very attentive to purchasing power since the beginning of the five-year term “. And the Prime Minister must receive the social partners for bilateral talks by mid-February, we learned from Matignon. In addition to topics such as the advancement of the social agenda, will be discussed ” issues of concern to social partners ».
The number one of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, also hammers home the need to raise wages, calling on employers to understand that ” now we have to give back a little “. But the first French union did not join forces with the intersyndicale on Thursday and decided to organize on February 3 “a march of essential workers”. The organizers of Thursday’s mobilization will decide Friday on the continuation of the movement, during a meeting in which Unsa and the CFE-CGC will participate.