Farmers, railway workers, the civil service, the airline sector, teachers, municipal police officers… All will take part in the November social movement. Unions have filed their strike notice and actions have already taken place.
Social movements are expected to be numerous from mid-November and they could gain strength as the days go by. The RATP and airline pilots got the ball rolling with strikes which did not cause any disruptions on November 12 and 14, but other sectors have promised to mobilize and want to be heard: farmers, the SNCF or still many professions in the Civil Service. The unions in all these sectors have set the dates for the next mobilizations, but they also warn of a possible extension of the movements in the absence of satisfactory responses from the State. Some also warn against a rise in social mobilizations.
Each sector has its own demands, but many are linked to the budget bill. The airline sector opposes the increase in a tax planned for January 2025, the Civil Service denounces the measures taken by its ministry concerning waiting days and compensation for sick leave… On the side of the SNCF, we denounce the competition for certain lines and the dismantling of certain services, while among farmers, it is the working conditions and the free trade agreement with Mercosur which crystallize the anger. Teachers are also mobilized, demanding better recognition of their work.
Mobilization of farmers from November 18, but already actions
Farmers' mobilizations have resumed in places with strong actions in certain departments: in Bouches-du-Rhône manure was dumped in front of the tax center, in Côtes-d'Armor rallies took place, while that in Haute-Garonne or Deux-Sèvres town signs are torn down or covered up. Blockages on the roads, particularly in Île-de-France, are planned for Sunday. But the two majority unions, the FNSEA and the Young Farmers (JA) announced the start of a national movement from Monday, November 18. The Rural Coordination, the second agricultural union, for its part called for an “agricultural revolt” from November 19 by demonstrating in front of the prefectures. In the absence of a response from the State, the union warns against actions to block “French food freight” from November 20 to “give the government a foretaste of what our country will be like tomorrow, without a farmer. Some farmers also believe that the movement “will be harder than last time”.
The dates of November 18 and 19 chosen by the unions correspond to those of the G20 summit during which a possible trade agreement between Europe and the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay) will be on the table. As a reminder, France says it is opposed to such an agreement or wants to conclude it by adding clauses concerning the quality and standards imposed on products imported into France.
Strike at the SNCF from November 20 to 22, then in December?
The railway unions have also called a strike from the evening of Wednesday November 20 until the morning of Friday November 22. Several union organizations, including the CGT-Cheminots, the Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail and the CFDT-Cheminots, warn that this mobilization is “an ultimatum” before “a longer and stronger strike movement in December” if the government and SNCF are not responding to their demands. They have also filed notice of an indefinite strike starting on Wednesday, December 11, which will be renewable for 24-hour periods. At the SNCF, it is the announced dismantling of Fret SNCF and the terms of the opening to competition of regional lines which are pushing for mobilization.
A day of “action” and “strike” for the Civil Service on December 5
“The trade union organizations CGT, CFDT, UNSA, FSU, Solidaires, CFE-CGC and FA-FP call on civil service agents for a day of action, rallies, demonstrations and strikes throughout the territory on December 5, 2024”, they indicated in a press release published on November 14. An agreement was reached to organize a mobilization and oppose the measures desired by the government and Minister Guillaume Kasbarian concerning the extension of the waiting period for the civil service to three days, compared to one currently.
Only the FO union did not join the call and instead preferred to maintain its proposal to carry out a three-day renewable strike “at the same time as the railway workers' strike”, i.e. on November 21, the secretary said. general of the UIAFP-FO, Christian Grolier, to the AFP. “We are going to take the minister's game at its word: three days of waiting time, three days of strike,” the trade unionist already said after a meeting of the organizations with the minister.
The Civil Service includes several professional fields, the mobilization dates could however multiply and the first branch to have announced a mobilization is that of early childhood on Tuesday, November 19. This is also happening on the national education side with the filing of a social alert against job cuts, without calls for strikes, for the moment. Professionals in the health and social action sector, on the other hand, have filed a strike notice which can be extended inter-unionly. Municipal police officers also filed a strike notice on Friday, with the National Public Security Union.
