This November 14, Alexandre and Christian, two union delegates from CGT Énergies 33, are summoned to court for the second time, this time at the Bordeaux Court of Appeal. In January, under the pressure of the mobilization, the criminal court acquitted the two energy companies as part of their trial for the “Robin Hood” operations. However, the Bordeaux public prosecutor's office as well as Enedis and the Saint-André hospital, formed as civil parties, appealed this decision in February.
As a reminder, the prosecutor demanded eighteen months suspended prison sentence and a fine of 5,000 euros for power cuts during the movement against pension reform. The action specifically targeted is that of March 23, which temporarily deprived Saint-André hospital of electricity due to a defective emergency generator. In reality, if we truly seek to find those guilty of the consequences of this action, we should rather look towards the governments which have continued to destroy the public hospital.
This new trial is part of the continuation of the criminalization and repression that trade unionists have faced since the end of the mobilization against pension reform. As CGT Énergie 33 recalls in its press release, alongside the trial, “ Enedis decided to summon them to disciplinary councils on February 14 and 15, which resulted in the notification of a sanction: a layoff of 8 days each ».
This case is unfortunately not isolated: since the pension battle, many trade unionists have faced unprecedented repression. The CGT Énergies 33 cites in particular the former general secretary of the CGT Énergies 77, still on trial. We can also think of Jean-Paul Delescaut, sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence for a leaflet in support of Palestine. A repression against which we must oppose the broadest mobilization and solidarity, like the struggle of Neuhauser workers to push back the management of Invivo on the dismissal of their union representative Christian Porta.
On Thursday, CGT Énergies unionists need support to continue their struggle. Let us be numerous, Place de la Victoire in Bordeaux, to demand their release and the abandonment of legal proceedings!
