Three unions (the CGT, the FSU, Solidaires) as well as several youth defense movements called for demonstrations and strikes on Tuesday, October 1, at the very moment when the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, delivered his general policy declaration in front of the deputies, announcing to give back the hand to the social partners to discuss pensions and unemployment insurance.
A total of 95,000 people demonstrated for wages and pensions in 250 demonstrations on Tuesday in France, including 11,000 in Paris, at the call of the CGT, FSU and Solidaires unions, the interior ministry said. The CGT, for its part, counted 170,000 demonstrators throughout France. For comparison, the last mobilization on wages in October 2023 brought together between 92,500 demonstrators according to the police and 200,000, according to the CGT.
The last to set out on Tuesday, the demonstrators in Strasbourg began to pound the streets shortly after 2:30 p.m. behind a banner proclaiming “for our salaries, our jobs, our working and study conditions”. “This demonstration is to show the Prime Minister that there are social issues, issues regarding pensions, issues regarding public services”commented to AFP, Laurent Feisthauer, general secretary of the CGT of Bas-Rhin.
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In Paris, where the CGT announced 20,000 demonstrators, Camille, 31, a high school teacher in the Paris region, is worried about the budgetary decisions that Mr. Barnier could take. “We know very well that the right will want to save money and that we will further reduce the means of national education”deplores the thirty-year-old, who “already thirty-six students in class in general stream”. “We don’t even know what they’re going to find to cut. There is nothing left! »breathes desperately Murielle, 54 years old, social worker in a hospital in Seine-et-Marne.
There were also around 2,200 in Bordeaux (prefecture), between 2,700 (prefecture) and 6,000 (CGT) in Lyon, between 800 (prefecture) and 1,500 (organizers) in Perpignan, 2,800 in Rennes (prefecture) or 2 900 in Nantes (prefecture).
“Halftone”
This mobilization for the repeal of the contested pension reform, an increase in wages and public services, was limited everywhere in France despite the reinforcement of several youth organizations (Student Union, UNEF, Fidl or High School Union).
With some 190 gathering places, “it’s a mobilization worthy of days of action of this type”nuanced Sophie Binet (CGT) from the Parisian procession, also worried “to note in the workplace a great democratic and social fatigue among employees”. The co-delegate of Solidaires, Murielle Guilbert, admitted to AFP “a half-hearted mobilization”emphasizing that “That does not mean that the subjects put forward do not have the support of the population”.
National education recorded 6.08% of strikers among teachers, a low participation. On the transport side, traffic was « normal » for TGVs. Only some slight disruptions were noted for certain regional and Intercity trains.
Tuesday morning, some Parisian high schools were also blocked. Around a hundred high school students marched in the Latin Quarter, with banners like “Barnier, it’s not square”. Unlike the united battle against pension reform, CFDT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC and UNSA did not join the mobilization. “It seemed premature to respond to this call. (…) To be effective, mobilization must have very targeted demands”underlined Marylise Léon (CFDT), in the regional daily West France.
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The unions’ ambition was to put a little more pressure on Mr. Barnier, who revealed his priorities to the deputies, after receiving the social partners last week. He announced that he would give back control to the social partners over unemployment insurance, thus burying in its current form the reform of this system planned by the Attal government, and the employment of seniors. “They are best placed to provide solutions”according to Mr. Barnier. The latter requested that this negotiation be opened “in the coming weeks”while the current rules for compensation for jobseekers will end on October 31.
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Regarding the much criticized pension reform adopted last year, which gradually raises the retirement age to 64, “we should resume the dialogue”he also judged while recalling the“imperative to preserve the sustainable balance of our system”. Another opening to the concerns coming from the processions, the announcement of a revaluation of the “Smic of 2% from November 1, in anticipation of the date of January 1”.
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