Two firefighters were injured and two people arrested Monday, November 15 in Guadeloupe during the first day, punctuated by incidents, of an unlimited general strike against the vaccination obligation and the health pass, we learned from a union source and to the prosecution.
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Clashes pitted striking firefighters and gendarmes, who charged before being targeted by jets of water hoses handled by firefighters.
“Two firefighters were injured”
during this clash, said Jocelyn Zou, FO union representative of the trade. Other incidents between strikers and
the police
gave rise to two
police
custody for "
repeated threats to a law enforcement officer,"
said the Pointe-à-Pitre prosecutor's office.
Maïté Hubert M'Toumo, general secretary of the General Union of Workers of Guadeloupe (UGTG), a very influential union on the island, described these arrests as “provocation”.
She denounced in a press release
"a serious attack on a fundamental freedom that is the right to strike"
and she called on
"all members and activists to strengthen the picket lines"
.
At the call of the union, employees of several establishments in the medico-social sector went on strike, said the UGTG in a second press release, as well as employees of many hotels while the tourist season is underway.
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Throughout the day more or less ephemeral dams were erected.
"It will rise crescendo,"
Jocelyn Zou told AFP.
“We are between 70 and 75% unvaccinated. Except that to ensure the minimum service, we are requisitioned by subpoenas. We do not understand why there, not being vaccinated does not pose a problem, ”
he quipped.
Several gas stations were closed by protesters, and many motorists stormed those that remained open for fear the strike would impact fuel supplies.
The call for an indefinite general strike was launched by a collective of trade unions and citizens of Guadeloupe to protest against the health pass and the vaccination obligation of caregivers against Covid-19.