While the text started its journey in the National Assembly this week, opponents of the pension reform find themselves again on the street this Thursday. Objective: demand once again the withdrawal of this government project and stem the breathlessness of a historic mobilization.
Two months after the start of the movement, the watchword of the CGT, FO, Solidaires, the FSU and youth organization (Unef, MNL, UNL) has not changed. All want the "withdrawal of an unfair and dangerous project". This Thursday, rallies and demonstrations are planned all over France. In the capital, the procession will leave at midday from Gare de l'Est to Place de la Nation.
Next day on February 17?
During the eighth call for an interprofessional day on January 30, the mobilization had marked time, with 108,000 demonstrators in France (Ministry of the Interior), against 249,000 the previous day, January 24. The continuation of the movement must be decided at a meeting at the headquarters of the CGT at the end of the day. "February 17, the first day the text passes through the hemicycle, is a good date for a new call," suggests Eric Beynel, spokesperson for Solidaires.
Work started this week in the special committee of the National Assembly, which is to examine more than 20,000 amendments, including 19,000 from LFI deputies. The leader of the rebels Jean-Luc Mélenchon asked Emmanuel Macron on Thursday to organize a referendum on pension reform.
Lawyers, forensic scientists, garbage collectors, etc.
"If he wants this reform at all costs because he thinks it is good for the country, then he finds that people do not want it, while he is organizing for example a referendum", a he said on France 2. The CFDT, in favor of a “universal” point system, lobbied deputies to improve the texts and worked in this direction on amendments, as did the CFTC and the Unsa.
The CFE-CGC, opposed to the reform, also tabled 22 amendments, when FO wrote to parliamentarians so that they "do not approve" the bill. In the streets, actions continued this week, organized in particular by officials (scientific police, garbage collectors, sewer workers, etc.). The lawyers, on strike for a month, were received a second time this week by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe and will decide on the continuation of the movement on Friday.
The Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet affirmed this Thursday that there would not be, until 2029, “increase of contribution” retirement for the profession. The project plans to double retirement contributions (from 14 to 28%) for lawyers earning less than 40,000 euros per year, and pensions, currently at least 1,400 euros net, would drop to 1,000 euros, according to the National Bar Council .
On the strike side, several sectors have taken over from transport, where traffic is "normal" at RATP and with "little disruption" at SNCF.
The port of Le Havre stopped
In the maritime sector, the CGT is organizing a “dead ports” operation. These actions, recurrent for several weeks in the big ports, were generally very followed. The port of Le Havre in particular is stopped and traffic in the city where Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is a municipal candidate was very disrupted in the morning. Le Havre is the leading French port for container ships.
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Employees in the energy sector also remain involved in waste treatment and nuclear power.
At the Penly power station in Normandy, where 83% of the employees surveyed voted against the reform, seven employees received a visit to their home on Tuesday from a bailiff who gave them a notice to vacate the site. The unions, however, deny any blockage.
In the waste sector, the employees of the three incineration sites in Ile-de-France have renewed their movement until Friday. The prefecture requisitioned staff to manage the garbage stocks and restart one of the ovens at Issy-les-Moulineaux.
Requisition procedure in Marseille
The Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis announced Wednesday evening that it would launch a procedure of requisitioning its agents on strike on Thursday, to evacuate the 3000 tonnes of overdue waste in the streets. It counted about forty strikers out of the 2,000 cleaning agents. In Guadeloupe, the social movement against the reform, combined with demands against the drop in teaching staff, has blocked a very large part of the schools, colleges and high schools since December 5.
