FRENCH trade union federation the CGT is calling ‘on the entire world of work to make May Day a powerful day of demonstration to demand the withdrawal of pension reform, and for peace and social justice in France and everywhere in the world.’
Before the May Day demonstrations, which the CGT hopes will be massive and powerful, the four representative unions of the rail unions federation SNCF – CGT Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail and CFDT Cheminots – organised a another mass mobilisation last Thursday April 20 to express their anger against the French government’s pension reform.
Striking rail workers wanted to mark a new high point in the mobilisation that has lasted for 13 weeks, to rightly express their anger against the pension reform imposed by force, before the major workers’ demonstrations on May 1st.
The Force Ouvriere (FO) trade union federation also slammed French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks in a speech on Monday April 17 as showing that he still hasn’t understood the anger that persists in the country.
The FO said: ‘The presidency must respect social democracy and the vast majority rejection of this reform by the population.
‘By being stubborn, the executive does not realise the responsibility it bears by locking itself in denial – and it is solely responsible for the explosive situation throughout the country.
‘After three months, the rejection of the pension reform is still massive. After forcing through the law (to raise the pension age) last Friday, the President of the Republic confirms in his speech, his contempt both for trade unions and for young people and the entire population.
‘The FO union federation confirms that it will not take part in meetings with the executive, nor with the President of the Republic.
‘During 12 days of powerful demonstrations, strikes, actions and local initiatives, in companies, in public services and in places of study, the unions have mobilised millions of workers, young people and retirees.
‘The inter-union organisation calls to make May 1st a day of massive, unitary and popular mobilisation against the pension reform throughout the country, in calm and determination.
‘It invites all workers, young people, retirees and the entire population to go to the capital en masse, with work colleagues, friends, family to obtain the repeal of this unjustified, brutal and unjust reform.
‘The general secretaries and presidents and co-delegates of trade union and youth organisations will participate in the demonstration in Paris in the presence of international trade union representatives in support of our struggle.
‘United, together, determined for social justice.’
Macron’s speech last Monday on primetime TV, where he called for ‘100 days of calm discussion, a real action plan and unity for France’, only infuriated the French public even more.
After organising months of record-breaking strikes and protests, French unions have now turned to a form of permanent harassment by organising ‘unwelcome committees’ aimed at disrupting each visit the president or members of his government have planned.
French organisation Attac (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens) has even created an interactive map for all upcoming rallies.
In addition to the ‘unwelcome committees’ organised by the unions, other methods aimed at disrupting the nationwide visits have popped up.
President Macron experienced power cuts while visiting a company in Muttersholtz, but also at Montpellier airport and at a school in Ganges where he was forced to carry out his meeting in an outdoor playground.
During the President’s visit to Notre Dame on April 14, the CGT union managed to get their voices heard despite the authorities evacuating the cathedral’s surroundings.
Vehicles, and even a typically Parisian ‘bateau-mouche’ boat on the Seine, drove around the premises with banners reading ‘Macron, quit!’
Meanwhile, easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren has bluntly said that the French air traffic controllers’ strike over the pension reform is ‘quite unacceptable’ with ‘ten million people affected by this’.
Lundgren has written to the French government asking for more air traffic control services.
He complained: ‘The more reputation an industry or a country gets for strikes and not being reliable, that will have a dampening effect on demand, people will just go somewhere else, Why should I go to France if I think I can be exposed to a strike?’
Another low-cost carrier, Ireland’s Ryanair, concurs. According to Politico.eu and Simple Flying, Ryanair is irate that overflights of France are being impacted by the air traffic controllers’ strike.
Ryanair has an online petition calling on European Union (EU) President Ursula Von Der Leyen to take the following actions:
1. Protect EU overflights (under min services laws) as they do in Greece and Italy;
2. Allow Europe’s other ATCs (Air Traffic Controllers) to manage flights over France during French ATC strikes;
3. Mandate (i.e. force) that French ATC unions engage in arbitration instead of strikes.
The online petition with over 405,000 signatures as of April 23, 2023, also claims that with 39 days of strike action – Ryanair has cancelled over 3,500 flights that overfly France.
Still, to help further its case, the airline has posted cheeky tweets to make its case for EU action.
- Meanwhile, the CGT trade union confederation noted that on Tuesday February 18, a decree published in the Official Journal formalised the implementation of a provision of the unemployment insurance law which was passed at the end of 2022.
The union said in a statement: ‘From now on, a worker who abandons his position is presumed to have resigned, and will no longer be able to benefit from unemployment insurance.
‘This is just one of the points of the unemployment insurance “reform” that came into force on February 1st.
‘The latter reduces insurance rights by 25% for recipients, ie a loss ranging from two to nine months of compensation. This reduction hits precarious (i.e. those on unprotected Uber-style contracts) people hard – who will lose two out of eight months and so on up to seniors – who will see their compensation period drop from 36 to 27 months.
‘Losing nine months of compensation will have the effect of also losing three quarters for retirement.
‘But the effects of this reform will be felt from September 1st, with workers finding themselves without compensation when they should have had at least two months left.
‘Another decree is pending – but legally complex to implement, since it calls into question the freedom of contract – i.e. the refusal of a CDI (permanent contract) after two CDDs (temporary or fixed-term contracts) could also mean the loss of unemployment rights.
‘The CGT, FSU and Solidaires, on March 17, filed a joint appeal with the Council of State against the unemployment insurance decree. The other unions did the same.
‘All organisations come to the same conclusion: we must prevent the destruction of unemployment insurance.
‘Emmanuel Macron’s speech on April 17 showed this well: the president claims to be turning a page which, for the workers, has not been turned. His intervention shows that he does not want to change anything: everything that was planned has been kept.
‘Through its various reforms, the government is organising the overall damage to our social protection system.’
‘This is why we demand the withdrawal of all reforms that disrupt the social rights of workers,’ insists Denis Gravouil, CGT Confederal Secretary in charge of unemployment insurance.
‘The government is considering a new “full employment” law, and the framework letter for the new unemployment insurance negotiations scheduled for the end of the year promises to be daunting.
‘All the trade unions are protesting against the brewing scandal: the possible end of joint Unedic, with the divestiture of the unions from the management of Unedic and the definition of the rules for negotiating unemployment insurance.
‘The CGT demands the withdrawal of the job abandonment decree and the unemployment insurance reform, and demands another vision of social protection, with occupational social security – the exact opposite of what the government’s policy is tending towards with the fracturing of rights.
‘The CGT is calling for a massive mobilisation on May 1st for a powerful day of demonstrations demanding the withdrawal of pension reform, and for peace and social justice in France and throughout the world.’