Sparse rallies and demonstrations “for employment and industry” are being held on Thursday in several cities in France, before the appointment of a new Prime Minister ordered to respond to the “social emergency” by the CGT, in a context marked by the explosion of social plans.
The first processions of the day seemed somewhat bare, as in Nantes, where 1,400 people, according to the prefecture, braved a dry and biting cold Thursday morning. For the most part, these were personnel from the cultural world whose local budgets have fallen sharply.
Among them, Elodie Gauche, a 41-year-old illustrator, came to “denounce the savings measures which will have a direct impact on the book and publishing industry in the region”.
Danielle Stervinou, a 73-year-old former saleswoman and retiree, walks the streets of Nantes to defend an increase in the value of small pensions: “I receive 759 euros per month and with inflation and increases on all sides, I have the impression that my retirement continues to decline.
Earlier, Sophie Binet, leader of the CGT – the second largest French trade union -, had announced “a day of convergence with the strike of railway workers against the dismantling of rail freight and that of civil servants who are demanding a budget that meets needs” and demand “a government that finally responds to the social emergency”.
On the rail side, if “normal traffic” is announced for all TGVs, slight disruptions are planned for regional trains “with a national average of eight trains out of ten”. In Ile-de-France, the most disrupted lines are, as is often the case during railway strikes, the RER D (one train in three on average) and the Transilien line R (one train in five).
The rallies, launched by the CGT, joined by Solidaires and FSU, were initiated while the announcements of social plans follow one another in large companies (Auchan, Michelin, Vencorex, PPG, etc.), among subcontractors or small structures, in many sectors (metallurgy, commerce, public and associative sector, banks and insurance, chemicals, etc.) almost everywhere in France.
On November 27, the CGT counted 286 social plans. It now lists 300, while taking data from the Altares firm which records 300,000 jobs threatened or eliminated.
– “Complicated to mobilize” –
The leader of the CGT, present alongside the employees of Fonderies de Bretagne in Lorient (Morbihan), once again regretted “this industrial bleeding (…) which is a sign that the supply policy is a shipwreck”. She notably called for “proactive action by the State to support our industry”, pleading among other things for “measures to lower the price of energy” or measures allowing employees to “block layoffs”.
In addition to the 132 mobilizations that it initiated in nearly 80 departments, the Montreuil headquarters encouraged, from the end of November, “employees to go on strike and occupy their factories to prevent layoffs”.
But the call seems little heard by employees. “It’s complicated to mobilize when you know that you don’t have people to talk to,” says a union source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The inter-union did not take a position, divided on the strategies to adopt, but Solidaires and the FSU civil service joined the movement.
“It is no longer possible to have the same policy towards both public sector agents and employees who are subject to these layoffs,” notes Murielle Guilbert, co-general delegate of Solidaires.
Force Ouvrière, for its part, provided support for “all the initiatives and mobilizations already decided” by its troops locally.
In Paris, where three public service union organizations (CGT, FSU and Solidaires) have decided on a new day of mobilization, a demonstration starting from Place de la Bastille started at 2 p.m.
In the electricity and gas sector, the strike is being renewed at GRT Gaz, whose employees had already strongly mobilized a week ago.
