the essential
Between austerity policies which affect the most precarious, the purchasing power crisis and the “explosive” international context, there was no shortage of reasons for concern.
Wednesday morning, the weather was like the social climate: gloomy. If the movement against pension reform no longer crystallizes social anger although it has left its mark, the reasons for protest are still very numerous.
This is why, despite the continuous rain and the cold, 500 to 800 people marched through the streets of Tarbes, between the Labor Exchange and the town hall square, on the occasion of this traditional May 1 demonstration. , united behind the same inter-union banner CFDT, CGT, Peasant Confederation, FSU, Solidaire and Unsa. First of all, it is a question of denouncing “the austerity policies implemented in France as in Europe, which promote precariousness and poverty, particularly among students.
“The scapegoat is precarious workers”
The government announces that it is making billions in savings on the backs of social policies, public services and the ecological transition or by picking the pockets of those who are sick. Latest: the Attal government announces that it will legislate on unemployment insurance for July 1, by reducing rights. In all cases, the scapegoat for this government is precarious and/or jobless workers, while record profits are recorded by CAC 40 companies.
Far from “discrediting” the country, the government is continuing its policy serving the richest by distributing public money to private companies, particularly the largest, in the form of exemptions from social security contributions: the lower the salaries, the more public aid is substantial”. The trade union organizations “request that salaries, pensions and the index point be at least indexed to prices”.
“The massacre of victims of work accidents”
The unions are also standing up against “the regression of health at work, which is often the result of deliberate employer choices to maximize profits”.
“To stop the massacre of victims of work accidents (1,227 deaths in France in 2022) and occupational diseases”, the unions demand in particular “respect for the rights of alert and withdrawal, a strict labor penal policy and convictions of employers responsible for serious accidents at work, the ban on the use of subcontracting, strengthening of regulations, the reestablishment and development of the CHSCT (health, safety and working conditions committee) , a sufficient number of labor inspectors and the independence of all occupational health stakeholders.
“Immediate ceasefires”
If the unions reaffirm “their wish for a social Europe”, they could not ignore “the current international context marked by terribly murderous wars”, and demand “immediate ceasefires. Because all lives matter , because they condemn war crimes and crimes against humanity wherever they have been committed, our organizations reaffirm their support for a just and lasting peace and a diplomatic resolution of conflicts.
