The inter-union is calling for a day of national and inter-professional strike this Friday, October 13 to demand an increase in salaries, pensions and social minimums. The education, health and transport sectors risk being seriously disrupted.
It marks the return of the inter-union to the forefront: the strike day of October 13. After mobilizing against pension reform for months, the inter-union is leading the fight for “purchasing power and the increase in salaries, pensions and social minimums” as its press release specifies. In addition to these “priority” demands for the world of work, gender equality is also on the menu of demands.
The date of the strike of October 13 was not chosen at random, the unions made sure to organize a mobilization only three days with the social conference on low wages chaired by the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne. They want to make themselves heard and for that, “we need to stock up” insisted the boss of the CGT, Sophie Binet, Sunday October 8 on Franceinfo. “The French are very angry, salaries are totally insufficient to live on. This is why I am calling on all employees to strike, to demonstrate,” added the general secretary. A call heard in different sectors, some of which warn of a “black Friday”.
You will have to wait until the evening of Wednesday October 11 to find out what disruptions are expected on SNCF train traffic, the RATP network and those of the various transport companies. However, it is very likely that the SNCF will join the strike movement: the main unions in the sector, the CGT Cheminots, Sud Rail and the CFDT Cheminot and later the Unsa, have relayed the call “to go on strike and to demonstrate” to all employees. On the RATP side, the CGT branch also called on agents to take part in the strike.
The October 13 strike risks being followed at airports, notably Paris-Orly which has already announced the cancellation of 40% of flights on Friday at the request of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation. Flight programs must also be reduced by 20% in Marseille-Provence and by 15% in Beauvais. Further delays or cancellations are possible due to the strike by air traffic controllers and air navigation managers. All are demanding better pay and improved working conditions.
The call to strike from FSU-SNUipp, the first nursery and elementary school union, should be followed. All teachers intending to strike must make themselves known to management this Wednesday at the latest, required by the obligation to declare themselves 48 hours in advance. Parents will therefore be notified and an initial estimate of participation could be made before the strike.
Middle and high school teachers should also have been invited to strike by the SNES-FSU, as well as those in higher education and research. In schools at all levels, strikes in ancillary services such as catering or daycare for the youngest are also likely to be disrupted by the strike.
The health sector is expected to be one of the most affected by the October 13 strike. All the unions representing private doctors are launching a historic call for a strike after the failure of negotiations with Health Insurance on the price of consultations. The inter-union assured on Tuesday October 10 that “Friday October 13 will undoubtedly be a Black Friday” in medical practices. She calls for a cessation of all activities and the president of the Union of Surgeons of France, Philippe Cuq, added that “all consultation activities, technical procedures are canceled. Emergencies will be transferred to the public hospital.”
The main demand of the doctors concerns the revaluation of the prices of consultations and the resumption of negotiations. The previous ones only led to an increase of €1.50 to bring the price to €26.50 when the doctors asked for a price set at a minimum of €30.
The CGT Mines-Energie, the main union in the sector, called on employees to strike ahead of the national inter-professional movement. The movement is due to begin this Wednesday October 11 and last all day Thursday, in parallel with salary negotiations. “We are calling for a strike and the resumption of work tools by collective decision,” trade unionist Fabrice Coudour told AFP. During their strike, employees could decide to reduce electricity production from 9 p.m. on October 11. The CGT was not, however, followed by the three other unions.
If the October 13 strike could be followed in these sectors, it should not push crowds into the streets according to the territorial intelligence service. The latter expects around 200 “moderately unifying” demonstrations and anticipates the participation of 125,000 to 150,000 people throughout France, according to a note consulted by BFMTV. Timid figures which could be explained by a form of “perceptible resignation among workers” after the lack of results of the mobilizations, although very well attended, against the pension reform.
With limited participation, intelligence considers the risk of incidents “limited”. Only a few cities “traditionally conducive to the overflow of the radical sphere”, including “the ultra-left” or “the radicalized yellow vests”, could be an exception. In Paris for example “100 to 200 elements at risk” could join the demonstration estimated at 15,000 people.
