Public sector agents are mobilizing this Thursday, December 5 for a day of action and strike at the call of the unions, threatening to open a new social front in the midst of a political crisis, while the government is on reprieve. Millions of agents are called to strike by most union organizations.
After the railway workers and farmers, the executive is preparing for a new social storm at the heart of a high-risk week, having to face motions of censure tabled by the left and the National Rally on Wednesday.
Several dozen rallies are planned in France on Thursday at the call of an inter-union association, particularly in Paris. In the capital, the meeting is set near the Ministry of the Economy and Finance at the start of the afternoon, from where a procession must reach Place d'Italie. According to the Unsa website, around fifty gatherings have been recorded in France.
65% of strikers in schools according to the majority union
The majority union FSU-SNUipp announced that school teachers “responded to the call for a strike from trade union organizations” with nearly “65% of strikers announced” in the “first degree”. Despite the threat of government censorship on Wednesday, “we will be in the mobilization of December 5,” said Marylise Léon, general secretary of the CFDT, whose organization is part of the inter-union.
In Paris, according to the FSU-SNUipp, 230 of the 650 schools will not provide lessons.
Flight cancellations in Paris, Marseille and Toulouse
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has asked airlines to reduce their flight schedules for the day of Thursday, December 5, in anticipation of the strike action. Civil aviation requires rreduction of flights by 10% at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m., by 25% at Paris-Orly from 6 p.m., by 50% in Marseille from 6 p.m., and by 20% at Toulouse airport for the day.
Despite these preventive measures, “disruptions and delays are to be expected,” warns the DGAC in a press release.
Mobilization in hospitals and among municipal police officers
Several public services, including hospitals and administrations, could experience disruptions. The CGT at Timone hospital in Marseille is planning two-hour work stoppages. Despite the expected disruptions, hospital emergencies will remain operational. Municipal police officers, on indefinite strike since November 15, also plan to mobilize.
Several demands
The announcement at the end of October by the government of a plan to combat “absenteeism” of civil servants, aiming to generate 1.2 billion euros in savingsstrained relations between agent unions and the Minister of Civil Service, Guillaume Kasbarian, leading to a breakdown in social dialogue.
The unions are demanding in particular that the minister renounce three measures which crystallize the anger: the increase from one to three days of waiting time for sick civil servants, the reduction from 100% to 90% of remuneration in the event of sick leaveand the non-renewal of payment of a bonus to support purchasing power.
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