We promised a "black Thursday".
France is indeed idling, on this day of inter-union mobilization against pension reform.
In addition to the demonstrations planned throughout France, the call to strike - relayed by all the trade unions, a first for many years - was followed in many sectors.
The Parisian takes stock.
Transportation
The strike is very popular in the transport sector.
This Thursday, more than 500 trains were canceled everywhere in France.
The SNCF also warns that the disturbances are planned until Friday, 8 am.
In the air, a 20% reduction in flights was planned at Paris-Orly airport "from 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.", according to a "notice for air missions".
At midday, there were no additional cancellations, according to the Aéroports de Paris group, despite some strike-related delays.
The strike, however, has no impact on Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, according to the same source.
⚠️National strike movement Thursday, January 19:
✈️Delays and cancellations of certain flights at Paris-#Orly ➡️ contact your airline to find out about your flight.
🚇 Public transport severely disrupted ➡️ your alternatives: https://t.co/uA7z3PNXGU
— Paris Airport (@ParisAeroport) January 18, 2023
In Paris, all the unions representing the RATP called for participation in the interprofessional movement, which inevitably led to a very disrupted day.
However, only line 8 was completely closed.
Lines 2, 3, 5, 6 and 13 are only open during peak hours - from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. - on certain sections, with frequencies varying from 1 train in 2 to 1 train in 5. Lines 3bis, 7, 7bis, 9 and 12 also operated at peak times, over their entire length, with variable frequencies.
Read alsoRATP and SNCF on strike: metro, RER, bus… traffic forecasts for this Black Thursday line by line
Lines 10 (full length) and 11 (only on a section) operated during morning rush hours, when they were initially supposed to be closed.
Line 4, partially automated, runs all day until 10:15 p.m.
Lines 1 and 14, automated, operate normally, the RATP warning against a risk of saturation.
In addition, more generally, RER and commuter train traffic was also very disrupted.
energy
To show their opposition to the pension reform, the striking agents of EDF reduced their electricity production this Thursday, until they reached at least the equivalent of twice the consumption of Paris, according to the CGT and the manager of the RTE high and very high voltage lines.
In a leaflet, the CGT Mines Énergie assured that this drop in production would have “no impact on users”.
In the refineries, the mobilization is particularly followed, with between 70 and 100% of strikers in most of those of the TotalEnergies group, according to CGT of the group.
In detail, according to a first point this Thursday, there were 100% strikers in the morning shifts for the La Mède biorefinery, the Flandres fuel depot (near Dunkirk) and the Carling petrochemical plant (Moselle ).
The Donges refinery (Loire-Atlantique) had 95% strikers and that of Normandy 80%, while the teams at the Feyzin refinery (Rhône) were on strike at more than 70%.
As a result, “shipments have been suspended,” Éric Sellini, national union coordinator for TotalEnergies, told AFP.
On the Esso-ExxonMobil side, the Fos-sur-Mer refinery (Bouches-du-Rhône) had 100% strikers among the morning shifts, while there were no strikers at the Gravenchon refinery (Seine- Maritime), according to the CGT.
However, less than 2% of French service stations were short of either gasoline or diesel on Thursday morning.
education
Education is one of the sectors where the strike is well followed.
According to the Snes-FSU, the leading secondary union, 65% of college and high school teachers were on strike.
The Snuipp-FSU, the first primary union, identified, for its part, 70% of striking teachers.
These figures are far from those of the Ministry of Education, which says that 42.35% of teachers followed the call to strike in primary and 34.66% in secondary (colleges and high schools).
Read also Strike against pension reform: a test day for Emmanuel Macron
At the same time, several school blockades were organized, in particular at the Jean Macé high school in Vitry (Val-de-Marne), at the Maximilien-Perret high school in Alfortville (Val-de-Marne), at the Hélène Boucher high school in Paris ( 20th century) or at the Lycée Turgot in Paris (3rd).
public service
In the public too, the strike is largely followed.
This is particularly the case in the media, whose mornings were largely disrupted on Thursday.
On France info and France inter, the news bulletins, shortened, were spaced out by half an hour by a musical track.
On France 2, Télématin rebroadcast old interviews.
On Franceinfo TV, the morning newspaper on set by Samuel Étienne took place with columnists and guests, but a banner warned viewers of a disturbed operation.
