‘Robin Hood’ power strikers provide free power to French schools, hospitals and low-income homes
By The Bharat Express News
-January 27, 2023
Issued on: 27/01/2023 –
Amid national strikes in the energy sector, some workers in France have found a new way to protest. On Thursday, “Robin Hood” operations — without government authorization — provided free gas and electricity to schools, universities and low-income households across the country.
Unapproved power supplies also included public sports facilities, day care centers, universities, public libraries, some small businesses, and homes that were cut off from power.
The ‘Robin des Bois’ operations – named after English folklore hero Robin Hood – were part of a wider effort to force the government to abandon plans to raise the retirement age in France.
Free energy supplies were intended to “reinforce the balance of power” in favor of striking workers, said Philippe Martinez, secretary general of the GGT, one of France’s largest confederations of trade unions. “[It’s about] returning energy to those who don’t have it at all because they can’t afford it, and make it free for hospitals and schools.”
The reference to the Englishman, known for stealing from the rich to give to the poor, was “appropriate,” Martinez told FranceInfo on Wednesday.
The unconventional protest comes amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis in Europe that will see gas and electricity prices in France rise another 15% by 2023, exacerbating long-standing problems. In 2021, a quarter of households in France were already struggling to pay their energy bills.
‘We could paralyze the country’
Meanwhile, strikes by energy workers at power plants, refineries, ports and docks on Thursday reduced France’s power availability by 2 gigawatts (GW) at three nuclear reactors, state-controlled nuclear group EDF’s breakdown table showed on Friday morning.
Strikes also took place in almost every French port and many came to a complete standstill, according to the CGT’s national federation for ports and docks. While TotalEnergies workers broke their strike on Thursday night, other energy strikes continued on Friday.
The energy strike follows a national strike on January 19 over pension reforms proposed by President Emmanuel Macron’s government, including plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The changes would also end specific pension plans at national energy companies EDF and Engie, which would allow some workers to retire early.
While Macron has promised to push ahead with the reforms, which will be presented to parliament on Monday, strikers have also said they will not back down.
>> French government pushes pension reform to parliament
“The purpose of today’s protests is to show that the balance of power has shifted up a notch and that, if we wanted to, we could paralyze the country,” said Gwenaël Plagne, CGT representative at a thermal power station in Cordemais, western France. .
A second national strike including teachers, civil servants and transportation workers is scheduled for Tuesday, January 31.
‘We will continue’
More “Robin des Bois” surgeries are also likely. “If the government does not withdraw its pension reforms, we will go ahead and make energy free for anyone who does not have access to regulated tariffs, be it public institutions or companies,” said Frédéric Probel, secretary general of the CGT. in Bagneux, in the Parisian suburbs, FranceInfo told Friday.
He said that in Paris and the city’s suburbs, free energy was supplied on Thursday for hospitals, clinics, ice rinks, swimming pools, high schools, public buildings, street lighting and heating. “At least it makes sense and it helps the public,” he added.
Plans to supply or shut down power can also become more targeted. GCT Secretary General Martinez denied on Wednesday that elected officials or specific individuals could have their power cut off — with few exceptions. “I would suggest that some billionaires who think we don’t need to raise salaries and that all is well in this country can pretend to live the experience of millions of households facing energy uncertainty,” he said.
Leading politicians have spoken out against unauthorized free energy supply.
Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire described them on Wednesday as “unacceptable. It’s not up to the CGT determine prices”, he told Europe 1. “It is not for the CGT to decide who should pay and how much. It is the state, the public interest, the French people through them [elected] representatives.”
Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher told France 2 on Friday morning that it was likely taxpayers would eventually have to foot the bill for unauthorized electricity consumption.
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