SOPHIE Binet, general secretary of the CGT French trade union federation, has called for people to join the rallies on July 18 in front of the National Assembly in Paris.
Binet was the guest of LCI news channel last Thursday, July 11, to review the victory of the Popular Front in the legislative elections and ask Emmanuel Macron to take note of his defeat.
She said the President of the Republic must stop following a partisan logic and call on the New Popular Front, which came first in the second round of the legislative elections, to propose a Prime Minister who will be responsible for forming a government, and let parliament and parliamentary democracy do so, to make the reforms necessary for the country.
Macron must come out of denial and admit his severe defeat.she said.
‘At a time when our country needs appeasement and unity more than ever, as always, the president prefers chaos. The letter he sent to the French arouses great anger which will cause chaos if he does not respect the results of the polls.’
Binet insisted: ‘Just like the outgoing majority which was relative, the new Popular Front majority has the capacity to govern, it is up to it to find alliances to achieve a majority on projects. The democracy of the ballot box, of which the President of the Republic is the guarantor – if he had to be reminded – must be respected.
‘The CGT calls for the implementation of democratic methods, respecting parliamentary and social democracy, to end the era of the brutalisation of our institutions by the outgoing majority established by Emmanuel Macron.
‘There is a need for a change in economic and social policies and the priority for the CGT is to have a government, whatever it may be, which will:
- repeal the pension reform;
- increase salaries;
- invest in public services.
‘It is in this context that the CGT supports the initiative of the CGT railway workers which called on citizens to meet on July 18 at 12.00pm, the day of the first session of the new legislature, near the National Assembly and near the prefectures for non-Parisians to put the National Assembly under popular pressure.’
- France’s hastily assembled left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front, are struggling to form a government in the wake of legislative elections earlier this month that left them well short of a majority, the head of the Socialist Party (PS) Olivier Faure said on Monday.
‘We will take our time, don’t worry,’ said Faure, adding that any pact is unlikely to come this week.
France’s left-wing parties still plan to form a joint government after they emerged as the strongest bloc in parliament in a snap election.
However, ‘Nothing will happen before July 18.’ Faure told France 2 television, referring to the date the newly elected National Assembly is due to convene for the first time. ‘We will take our time, don’t worry,” he said.
President Macron last week urged the mainstream parties in France’s hung parliament to form a coalition able to muster a ‘solid’ majority, putting pressure on the more moderate parts of the NFP (New Popular Front) to ditch the left LFI (France Unbowed). and join Macron’s centrists.
After nearly a week of negotiations, Huguette Bello emerged as a contender for the French prime minister’s post when Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the left wing France Unbowed (LFI) party hailed the latest ‘solution’ to the political impasse that has gripped France since the July 7th legislative elections produced a hung parliament.
Speaking to supporters last Friday, Mélenchon said Bello, a committed ‘anti-racist feminist’, was a ‘solution’ to the political impasse.
The 577-seat National Assembly is roughly split into thirds between the New Popular Front (NFP) left alliance with 182 seats, President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble centrists at 168, and the far-right National Rally (RN) with 143.
French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel told a local TV station that Bello, the 73 year-old politician from France’s Reunion Island, has ‘the right stuff” to fulfil the PM role.
But the Socialist Party is defending their party leader Olivier Faure as the best candidate to head the new French government.
So on Saturday Bello withdrew her nomination because of the refusal of the Socialist Party to endorse her candidacy
Meanwhile, ten days before the Olympic Games, Force Ouvriere (FO) and three other unions from the ADP group at Roissy, le Borget and Orly airports, are calling for a strike on July 17.
Denouncing the lack of staff, the inter-union is demanding a massive hiring plan and an Olympic bonus of 1,900 euros for all employees – claims that have so far been ignored by management.
This date falls on the eve of the opening of the Olympic village, where the first guests will begin to arrive, once they get through the Paris airports. In a few days, ADP plans to welcome 65,000 athletes, delegations and journalists from around the world.
But internally, the climate is tense: ‘We have been asking for months to negotiate the organisation of the games. But management refuses and takes unilateral measures without us. Each time, we come up against a wall, with an end of refusal,’ said Fabrice Criquet, secretary general of FO ADP.
The inter-union is demanding an OJ (Olympic Jour) bonus for the group’s employees. Denouncing the work overload, FO also calls for a massive hiring plan, i.e. the recruitment of 1,000 people, and the guarantee of being able to take leave.
Since the collective contractual termination plan of 2020, ADP has eliminated no less than 18% of positions, said Criquet: ‘There is a glaring understaffing in all professions, from passenger reception to administrative staff. People can’t take it any more and are struggling to pay off their vacation days, which end up in a time savings account.’
For the Olympics, ADP ‘invited’ employees to postpone their vacations. ‘Except that nothing says that they will be able to take them afterwards. Management responds that this will be “as far as possible!” ’ the FO ADP leader complained.
The inter-union is also demanding a daily Olympic bonus of 1,900 euros for the 5,600 ADP employees.
To strengthen the numbers present during the games, the group decided to call on volunteers. According to ADP, 1,400 employees agreed to work during the games.
They will receive a bonus ranging from 70 euros to 100 euros per day depending on the density of travellers passing through the sites. But Management refuses the idea of a bonus for all employees.
The unions have rejected this ‘offer’, saying: ‘Suffice to say that the pill does not work.’
Threatening a strike for lack of being heard, on June 25, the inter-union sent ‘an ultimatum’ to Augustin de Romanet, the CEO of the group. He met briefly with the unions on July 2nd. ‘He accepted the principle of a bonus of 1,000 euros gross for the Olympics, but only for operational staff, such as airport reception staff. For us, this is unacceptable.
‘All services are involved in the Olympics, from IT to real estate. All employees must have this bonus,’ insists Criquet.
As for the other demands (hiring, guarantee of being able to take leave), ‘he literally swept them aside. These points were not even up for discussion.’
The day after this brief meeting, the inter-union decided to boycott the next CSEs ‘until further notice’. And after consulting some 300 employees, she therefore announced a day of strike on July 17, accompanied by a rally in Roissy. A ‘potentially renewable’ mobilisation, Criquet warned.
