'We don't have a choice': French unions explain why they've brought France to a halt
Ingri Bergo

Unions say striking is their only option. Photo: AFP
With much of France at a standstill on a second day of a nationwide strike against pension reforms four of the country's biggest unions tell The Local why their cause justifies the huge level of disruption.


French unions began a mass general strike across France on December 5th that saw railway workers, Metro and bus drivers, hauliers, teachers, airline ground crew, air traffic controllers and postal workers all join the mass walk-out.

Their goal is to force the government to drop a controversial new pension reform that they believe will leave many people having to work longer for lower monthly pensions.

The strike entered its second day on Friday with unions warning they are prepared to continue their fight until Christmas if the government does not respond to their concerns.



Those worries centre around changes to France's complicated pension system.

Currently, there are 42 different systems, so the age you can retire and the level of pension you get depends on where you work.

For example SNCF train drivers and Metro drivers can retire at 50 and 52 respectively, with the average employee of RATP (which runs the Paris public transport network) getting a monthly pension of €3,705.

In comparison, anyone who doesn't enjoy a 'special regime' for pensions - generally people who work in the private sector - can retire at 62 - the legal age of retirement in France and get an average pension of between €1,260 and €1,460 a month.

The difference is mostly due to how pensions are calculated. For the majority of people in the private sector their pension is calculated based on their salary over 25 years, but some special regimes calculate pensions based just on the salary of the employee during their final six months of work.

The reform that French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed creates one universal system so everyone's pension is calculated in the same way, taking into account the employee's whole career and introducing a points based system for pensions and potential early retirements.

Unions say this will penalise people who have been through a period of unemployment, taken a career break or started on a very low salary.

French President Emmanuel Macron referred to the strikers as “dominated by employees of big transport businesses” with “categorical demands that would penalise the society at large.”

Unsurprisingly, the unions do not agree with him.

Before the strikes began we asked some of France's biggest unions to justify bringing France to a halt.


Strikes against pension reform in 1995 caused huge disruption for three weeks until the government backed down. Photo: AFP

CGT - Confédération Générale du Travail

“Striking the only means to obtain social progress in this country,” said Benjamin Amar, political spokesman for the CGT.

“You have to use le bras de fer (strong-arming, further explained here).”

The CGT was the leading trade union during the 1995 strikes, when Jacques Chirac's government tried to push through another unpopular pension reform. After three weeks, the government abandoned the reform.

The current reform, Amar said, would have “catastrophic social consequences” for French workers.

“Macron is the president of the patronat (the employers). The reform is a gift in disguise to them,” he said.

“Believe me, we would prefer to sit down around a table if we could.

"No one likes striking. It’s tough on our wallets, our physical and mental health. But we need to mobilise to defend our rights.”

“British workers know what we’re talking about. [Former British Prime Minister Margaret] Thatcher broke down the unions, and who is defending their rights now? No one.”

So how long is the CGT prepared to keep the strong-arming going?

“We’re not talking numbers. This is not math, it’s a deep-set anger. Our workers are angry,” he said, adding: “And I prefer that they express their anger together with us rather than through the far-right, like in other countries.”


CGT members in Paris went on strike in September to protest the government's pension reform. PHOTO: AFP

FO - Force Ouvrière (Worker’s Force)

FO was created in 1948, following an internal split in the CGT. Historically the FO members have been skeptical of the Communist Party’s influence on the CGT. FO is today France’s third largest union, behind CGT and CFDT.

“This is not just about defending the special regimes,” said FO's General Secretary Yves Veyrier.

"We talk a lot about the rail workers, but in reality the reform will negatively impact the French population as a whole."

Veyrier is referring to that the reform will change the way pensions are calculated for everyone, both public and private sector workers.

“We have been telling the government this for two years now, but no one is listening,” Veyrier said.

But does this justify paralysing the whole country?

"We don't have a choice. It's not like we enjoy striking," he said.

A lot of the workers worry about losing their salaries, Veyrier said, which could impact how long they can keep the strike going.

“But we won’t go home on December 5th saying ‘well that was a good strike, shame we didn't achieve anything'," he said.

"In that case we'll be back at it on the 6th.”

READ ALSO OPINION Why pension reform always spells trouble in France


"Keep the 42 regimes," reads the banner held high by FO protesters walking through Marseille in October. PHOTO: AFP

UNSA - Union nationale des syndicats autonomes

"I’m afraid this is the only option we have,” said Dominique Corona, chief pension negotiator for UNSA, the umbrella union representing both public and private unions.

Among UNSA's members is one of the country's largest teachers’ unions, and a union representing parts of the RATP transport system (UNSA-RATP).

“The government keeps saying they don’t want teachers to lose money, but they don’t say how they will prevent it,” Corona said.

In an echo of FO's Veyrier, Corona said the government is claiming to be looking for solutions, but isn’t coming up with anything substantial.

“This strike is not about punishing the government, it's about finding solutions to improve the way France works.”

But is paralysing the whole country really the right strategy for achieving this?

“This is France," Corona said.

"I would much rather live in a country where we didn’t have to pull a strike to get answers from the government."

“It’s not us who don’t want to cooperate. It’s him [President Emmanuel Macron] who doesn’t want to cooperate with us,"

So how long are they prepared to keep the strike going?

"The 6th, 7th, 8th.. This could go on for a very long time," Corona said.

"Unless of course the government comes up with something before then. In that case, we won't strike."

READ ALSO: French teachers to join transport workers in December strikes



Doctors, lawyers, pilots and nurses protested the proposed pension reform in September in Paris. PHOTO: AFP

SNUipp-FSU - National Teachers' Union

Joining in on the strike is also France's largest teacher's union.

“This not something we do for fun. We would much rather be in class,” said Francette Popineau, Co-General Secretary and spokesperson of the union.

Referring to the reform as “monstrous” Popineau said she feared it would push French teachers into poverty.

She sees the President as detached from the French population “I don’t think he understands,” she said.

“He’s never been elected before, never been mayor. He didn’t have to look the people he ruled over in the eye at the bakery every morning.”

But, again, is that good enough reason to disrupt the whole country?

"The problem in France is that our system is completely vertical. All decisions come from above," Popineau said.

"Striking is a right we use when there isn't any dialogue. It's a last resort."

The teachers' union is undecided as to whether or not they will continue the strike after December 5th.

“Obviously it’s a complicated situation for us seeing as we are responsible for the children," Popineau said, adding that she hopes the government will come up with a solution on the 5th.

"But we are ready to stay on the streets if necessary,” she said.

Striking in France - what are the rules and do strikers get paid?

The right to strike is ensured by the French constitution. But do workers still get paid when striking?. Photo: AFP

French workers do have something of a reputation for striking, but do they really do it more than any other European country? And can any disgruntled employee walk out?

Who can go on strike?

As a general rule, all French workers have the right to strike. The right to strike is guaranteed by the French Constitution.

Although striking is an individual right, it needs to be exercised collectively by at least two employees as a means to further professional demands.

This means that one single employee cannot go on strike alone (except during national strikes) and that a strike cannot be used for political purposes.

Certain public sector workers are not allowed to strike, including:

Emergency services like certain types of police officers and emergency medics

Judges

Army personnel (which includes firefighters in some areas)

Prison guards

Some civil servants in the Home Office (personnels des transmissions)

Do strikers get paid?

Public sector workers lose 1/30th of their gross monthly salary for every day or partial day that they strike, so in effect they lose roughly a day's pay every time they strike.

For public sector workers - which includes SNCF employees and the Paris public transport system RATP - this also includes weekend days and holiday - so anyone striking from Monday to Monday would lose seven days pay, even if they did not normally work weekends.

The deduction is also made even if they employee does not strike for the full day.

The exception is hospital staff, who lose less (1/23th of their monthly salary) if they go on strike for just one hour.

The rules are different for private sector employees who generally lose their salaries the days they go on strike.

During long-running strikes, unions often run a cagnotte - a pot or fund - which collects donations to give to striking workers who are suffering financial hardship.

Nurses and hospital staff went on strike in September to call for a salary increase and better work conditions. Photo: AFP

Can only union members strike?

No. Anyone working in France can go on strike, but public sector strikes need to be declared by at least one union.

France is the country with the highest number of trade unions but the lowest percentage of union membership (around 8 percent compared to a European average of about 25 percent).

As for strikes in the private sector unions don’t need to be involved at all.

Despite the low levels of union membership, French people do indeed strike more than their neighbours. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of French strike days was 125 per 1,000 employees, according to a study by the European Trade Union Institute. As a comparison, the UK, Germany and Sweden had 20, 17 and 3 respectively.

What are the rules?

There are significant differences between the public and private sector when it comes to the legalities of striking. In both cases, violence is forbidden and strikers are required to respect non-strikers, meaning they are not allowed to prevent others from going to work.

Private sector

In the private sector, a strike can be declared at any time, even in cases where workers have not attempted to reconcile with their employer.

Employees are not obligated to alert their employer in advance. To declare a strike, they simply need to ‘collectively stop working and state a list of professional demands (about salaries, work conditions or other)’. This list needs to be given at the moment the strike begins.

Public sector strikes in France need to be declared by at least one union. Photo: AFP

Public sector

In the public sector, the general rule is that a written strike warning must be issued five days prior to the strike. This warning needs to state the motives for the strike as well as the start- and end date (if there is an end-date, if not that needs to be stated too).

Unions and management are required to negotiate during the five days following the strike warning.

Teachers

For strikes involving kindergarten or elementary school personnel, the rules are slightly stricter. Unions need to provide a written document stating the strikers’ demands as well as the persons participating in the strike, eight days prior to the strike.

After unions have notified the management they have to negotiate for three days before making a final decision on whether or not to strike. If the unions decide to continue with the strike, they need to provide a written document stating the motives for the strike and which schools will be affected, as well as when the strike will begin and end (if there is an end-date, if not that needs to be stated too).

Teachers need to tell their superiors whether or not they intend to strike 48 hours in advance.

Transport sector

The transport sector is subject to the strictest strike regulations. Following a 2008 law, trade unions and management need to consult for two weeks before any strike. Employees are legally obligated to give a 48-hour-notice if they intend to join a strike.

The law was made to enable transport companies better to inform passengers and to organise a minimum service ahead of a strike.

This is why rail operator SNCF has said it will publish revised strike timetables on December 3rd, two days ahead of the upcoming ‘unlimited’ strikes.

How long are workers allowed to keep the strike going?

There’s no legal limit to how short or long a strike can be. Everything from one hour to several weeks is allowed. Strikers may also do a method of on-and-off striking, for example working one day out of five for a certain period of time.

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SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=FRANCE
SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=GENERAL+STRIKE

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=FRANCE+STRIKE

France: unions say 75% of teachers strike

Issued on: 13/01/2022 -

Video by: James ANDRÉ

French teachers went on strike Thursday (January 13), with the biggest teachers' union saying half of primary schools were closed as staff demand clarity from the government on coronavirus measures. They complain that their members are unable to teach properly, are not adequately protected against coronavirus infection and frequently hear about changes to health precautions via the media rather than from higher-ups. FRANCE 24 's James Andre tells us more.

Half of French schools may close due to teachers strike over COVID-19 concerns
By UPI Staf

French President Emmanuel Macron is seen during a visit at a school in Marseilles, France, on September 2, 2021. Macron has touted keeping France's schools open in the COVID-19 era as a major accomplishment. File Photo by Daniel Cole/EPA-EFE

Jan. 13 (UPI) -- About half of schools in France were expected to close Thursday due to a mass teachers strike over complaints about COVID-19 safety protocols in classrooms and other ways that the government is handling the pandemic.

About a dozen teachers unions across France called for the walkout as a protest and a call for change.

The French government has changed COVID-19 rules three times since children returned to classrooms this month, and many teachers say that lax safety protocols are threatening students and staff. Prime Minister Jean Castex relaxed protocols again on Monday, which spurred calls for the strike.

French President Emmanuel Macron painted a different picture this week when he said that keeping schools open in the COVID-19 era has been one of the country's greatest accomplishments -- a view shared by education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.

Union officials said about 75% of teachers are expected to participate in the labor walkout on Thursday, and the shortages may close about half of all schools in France.

The walkout comes amid a surge in coronavirus infections across France that are being driven, as in most other parts of the world, by the more contagious Omicron variant. This week, the country has averaged about 350,000 new cases per day.

Eleven unions are taking part in Thursday's walkout, including close to 40% of primary school teachers and a quarter of secondary school teachers.

   

French teachers go on strike over handling of pandemic
By SYLVIE CORBET

1 of 10

Teachers and students hold a banner reading " National Education- working condition - wages " as they demonstrate in Bayonne, southwestern France, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. French teachers have walked out in a nationwide strike Thursday to express anger at the way the government is handling the virus situation in schools, denouncing confusing rules and calling for more protection. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

PARIS (AP) — French teachers voiced anger at the way the French government is handling the pandemic in schools, denounced confusing rules and called for more protection during a nationwide strike on Thursday.

Exhausted by the pressures of surging COVID-19 cases, many teachers answered the call by 11 unions to protest virus-linked class disruptions and ever-changing isolation rules.

France is at the epicenter of Europe’s current fight against COVID-19, with new infections topping 360,000 a day this week, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

Health Minister Olivier Veran announced on Twitter Thursday that he tested positive for the virus and was self-isolating in order to continue working.

The teachers’ strike puts the government of President Emmanuel Macron under additional pressure a week after opposition lawmakers delayed implementation of a key measure that mandates proof of vaccination for entry into restaurants, cultural and sport facilities.

Teachers want clarifications on rules and more protections, such as extra masks and tests to help relieve the strain.

Among those at a demonstration in Paris’ city center was English teacher and SE-UNA union member Lilia Larbi who said that people are “fed up” with the situation at school.

“The strike is not against the virus, it’s against bad communication, changing rules... and the bad handling of the sanitary crisis,” she said, adding that the government “is denying reality.”

Larbi said she taught to only three children in her class on Wednesday because colleagues either tested positive for COVID-19 or were waiting for test results. “We feel like we’re babysitting” rather than teaching, she said.

Paris teacher Frédéric Le Bihan expressed “exasperation” at the confusing “orders and counterorders.”

Within a span of a week, authorities changed the rules on testing schoolchildren twice.

Le Bihan said teachers are under additional pressure from parents who expected them to implement government directives “which is not possible.”

Fatna Seghrouchni, a teacher in the Paris region and member of the Federation Sud Education union, said teachers are being asked “to do things without having the means to do them.”

Like many other protesters, Seghrouchni’s anger was directed at Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer who she said has shown teachers “contempt” by announcing last minute, virus-related rules in a newspaper interview to a newspaper instead of sending instructions directly to educators.

Blanquer has acknowledged that January has been “tough” for schools as 50,000 new COVID-19 cases have been detected among students in “recent days” and more than 10,000 classes cancelled. The figures are expected to worsen in the coming weeks.

Unions estimated that 62% to 75% of teachers were supporting the protest movement, depending on which school they’re posted. The government said 27% of teachers were on strike.

The SNUIPP teacher’s union is calling for a return to a previous rule that shuts classes down for a week if a child tests positive.

Teachers are also demanding higher quality masks, more testing at schools and devices in classes warning when ventilation is required.

The strike comes on the same day French senators voted a bill requiring adults to provide proof of vaccination to enter restaurants and bars, cinemas, theaters, museums, sports arenas and inter-regional trains. Unvaccinated kids between 12 and 17 can show a negative test.

The measure will come into force later than initially expected, after parliament approves the legislation by next week.

Paris girds for cost of living protests as fuel strike rages for third week

Police expect 30,000 people to attend rally on Sunday as French left-wing party deputy decries ‘greatest loss of purchasing power in 40 years’

By AFP

Today, 

Motorists wait in lines at a gas station amid a fuel shortage and rising prices in Paris on October 15, 2022. (Christophe ARCHAMBAULT/AFP)


PARIS, France — Nearly three weeks into a strike that has forced gas stations across France to close, police in Paris were preparing for protests Sunday against soaring living costs.

Left-wing opponents of President Emmanuel Macron’s administration have organized the demonstration, which they say is also in protest against government inaction over climate change.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party, had planned the march well before the current strike, but organizers are hoping to pick up some of the momentum from the current industrial unrest.

“The rise in prices is unbearable,” said LFI deputy Manon Aubry. “It is the greatest loss of purchasing power in 40 years.”

It is time the billions that the big companies were reaping in profits were passed down to those struggling to make ends meet, she added.
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Police are expecting around 30,000 people to attend, with one source saying they feared problems from hard-left troublemakers. “The organizer has been warned of these fears,” said the official.

Trade unionists and striking employees gather outside the TotalEnergies refinery site, in Donges, western France, on October 14, 2022. (LOIC VENANCE/AFP)

The dispute at French refineries and fuel depots has forced many gas stations to close and had a knock-on effect across all sectors of the economy.

According to government figures issued Saturday to French broadcaster BFMTV, 27.3% of gas stations were short of at least one product: in the Paris region, that rose to 39.9%.

Four of France’s seven refineries and one fuel depot are still out of action after striking members of the hard-left CGT union rejected a pay offer from the hydrocarbon industry leader that other unions accepted.

They are furious that Macron’s government used requisitioning powers this week to force some strikers back to open fuel depots, a move that has so far been upheld by the courts.

But the union risks stoking resentment in a country where three-quarters of workers rely on personal vehicles for their jobs. One poll by BVA released Friday, suggested that public support for the strike was at just 37%.

The CGT is pushing for a 10% pay rise for staff at TotalEnergies, backdated to the beginning of the year.

A paper reading “Limited to 30 litres” is displayed in a gas station amid a fuel shortage and rising prices, Mont-Pres-Chambord, France, on October 14, 2022, (GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP)

It argues the French group can more than afford it, citing TotalEnergies’ net profit of $5.7 billion in the April-June period as energy prices soared with the war in Ukraine, and its payout of billions of euros in dividends to shareholders.

The union has extended its strike action, which started on September 26, up to Tuesday, when it has also called a broader strike involving public transport nationwide.

The CGT walked out of talks with the French group last week, even as other unions representing a majority of workers accepted a deal for a smaller pay hike.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is due to appear on primetime television Sunday evening to discuss the gas shortage.

Macron faces risk of protests spreading in wake of oil strike

The left is taking to the streets on Sunday to demand more government action against inflation and climate change.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s government has been working hard to resolve strikes, as the absence of oil workers across the country has led to long lines at petrol pumps

 | Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images

BY CLEA CAULCUTT
OCTOBER 16, 2022 

PARIS – After two weeks of crippling fuel strikes in France, the protest movement at oil refineries risks spreading to other sectors of the economy with fresh industrial action planned in the coming days.

On Sunday, France’s left-wing alliance Nupes is also calling for a march against inflation and climate change, before a general public sector strike planned on Tuesday, which may disrupt transport across the country.

Oil workers’ strikes have led to disruption at oil facilities and long lines at petrol pumps since last week, particularly in the Paris region and in the north of France. While things have yet to go back to normal despite agreements with some leading unions, the movement risks spreading further, with ongoing calls for strikes in other sectors.

With high inflation in the wake of the Ukraine war, discontent is rising among voters, and there are fears ongoing industrial action may even lead to a rerun of the Yellow Jacket protests. Left-wing parties, which made a strong showing in the recent parliamentary election, are hoping to whip up public opposition to the government over rising electricity and heating bills.

“I hope [Sunday’s march] will be a demonstration of strength,” said Jean-Luc Mélenchon, one of the leaders of the left-wing alliance Nupes, ahead of the protest, on TV channel France 3.

“It’s not the march of Mr. Mélenchon. It’s a march of the people who are hungry, who are cold and who want to be better paid,” he said.

Public sector workers such as teachers, nuclear industry workers and rail workers are also expected to walk out on Tuesday in response to calls from French trade unions.

In recent days, French President Emmanuel Macron’s government has been working hard to find a solution to resolve the oil refinery strikes in an effort to bring things back to normal. On Wednesday, Macron said the conflict should be resolved next week.
Fears of a return of the Yellow Jackets

The strikes of refinery workers, which have meant fuel shortages at up to a third of petrol stations across France, have raised fears of a rerun of the Yellow Jacket protests that rocked France in 2018 and 2019. The protests were sparked by a new government tax on petrol and diesel but developed into a more general protest against French elites.

After weeks of violent protests marked by a harsh police crackdown, the government was forced to back down and drop the new tax.

However, OpinionWay pollster Bruno Jeanbart says parallels being drawn between the widespread Yellow Jacket demonstrations and the current unrest only go so far.

The strikes have raised fears of a rerun of the Yellow Jacket protests that rocked France in 2018 and 2019 

| Stephane De Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images

“[The oil refinery strike] is not popular, because its creating problems and has a lot of impact on the public,” Jeanbart said.

“The striking workers are able to block everybody for their own interests, they are not fighting against an unpopular pensions or education reform, but are taking actions to boost their own wages,” he said.

The strikes have pitched management at oil giants TotalEnergies and Esso-Exxon Mobil against staff blockading depots across the country. On Friday, splits started appearing in the movement with some trade unions agreeing to a wage hike deal with TotalEnergies.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne also said she saw “some signs of improvements” with deliveries restarting at some oil depots. However, the CGT trade union, one of the largest in France, says it will continue the strike.

According to Jeanbart, the protests may become more challenging for the government if they spread to public sectors that benefit from strong public support, such as teachers or health workers.

“There’s a lot of tensions among teachers. Difficulty in recruiting new teachers, difficulty in filling positions in Paris, wage increase [issues] … There’s a quiet quitting movement among teachers so it’s difficult to tell if they would join a protest movement in the streets,” he said.

And while the weakening of trade unions in France’s political life might play in favor of the government, it may also raise the likelihood of “outside-the-box” protests movements that are less predictable.

Looking ahead, Macron will be watching the shifts in public opinion closely as he prepares to push through his controversial reform of French pensions as early as this fall.

French unions rally supporters to streets ahead of pension ruling

By News desk
-April 14, 2023

Union activists barged into the Paris head-quarters of luxury goods company LVMH on Thursday, saying the French government should shelve plans to make people work longer for their pension and tax the rich more instead.

In a 12th day of nationwide protests since mid-January, striking workers also disrupted garbage collections in Paris and blocked river traffic on part of the Rhine in eastern France.

“You’re looking for money to finance pensions? Take it from the pockets of billionaires,” said Sud Rail union leader Fabien Villedieu, as the LVMH headquarters filled with red smoke from flares. The protesters then left peacefully.

Trade unions urged a show of force on the streets a day before the Constitutional Council’s ruling on the legality of the bill that will raise the state pension age by two years to 64.

Across France, 380,000 demonstrators took part in Thursday’s protest, according to figures from the government. That number included 42,000 at the Paris demonstration. Those figures were down from April 6, when 570,000 demonstrated across France, with 57,000 at last week’s Paris protest.

There were some clashes during Thursday’s rallies, including skirmishes in central Paris, with black-clad protesters throwing projectiles at police who responded with teargas, but this was nowhere near the level of violence seen at some protests last month.

—AFP

French unions rally supporters to the streets ahead of pension ruling • 

FRANCE 24 English

  Apr 13, 2023  #France #pension #protest

France faced a new day of street protests on Thursday over President Emmanuel Macron's plans to make people work longer for their pension, as striking workers disrupted garbage collection in Paris and blocked river traffic on part of the Rhine river. Trade unions urged a show of force on the streets a day before the Constitutional Council's ruling on the legality of the bill that would raise the retirement age by two years to 64. FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris-Trent reports from Paris.

France sees renewed protests against Macron’s retirement age plan



By —Elaine Ganley, Associated Press
By —Jeffrey Schaeffer, Associated Press

Apr 13, 2023 

PARIS (AP) — Protesters opposing President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the retirement age to 64 marched Thursday in cities and towns around France, in a final show of anger before a decision on whether the measure meets constitutional standards.

In Paris, as thousands marched along the designated protest route, some protesters holding lit flares veered off to the Constitutional Council, which is to decide Friday whether to nix any or all parts of the legislation.

They faced off with a large contingent of police deployed outside the building, where hours before the march got underway other protesters had dumped bags of garbage.

The trash piles were cleaned up but signaled the start of a new strike by garbage collectors, timed to begin with the nationwide protest marches. A previous strike last month left the streets of the French capital filled for days with mounds of reeking refuse.

Also before the main march, more than 100 railroad workers marched down a Paris street of luxury boutiques, invading luxury conglomerate LVMH offices and going to the first floor before exiting.

Fabien Villedieu of the Sud-Rail Union said LVMH “could reduce all the holes” in France’s social security system. ”So one of the solutions to finance the pension system is a better redistribution of wealth, and the best way to do that is to tax the billionaires.”

Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH, “is the richest man in the world so he could contribute,” Villedieu said.

Early on in the main Paris protest, security forces intervened to stop vandals damaging a shop, with 15 people detained, police said. Like in past protests, several hundred “radical elements” had mixed inside the march, police said.

READ MORE: Macron says controversial French pension plan must be implemented by end of year

Thousands also marched in Toulouse, Marseille and elsewhere. Tensions mounted at protests in Brittany, notably in Nantes and Rennes, where a car was burned.

“The mobilization is far from over,” the leader of the leftist CGT union, Sophie Binet, said at a trash incineration site south of Paris where several hundred protesters blocked garbage trucks. “As long as this reform isn’t withdrawn, the mobilization will continue in one form or another.”

CGT has been a backbone of the protest and strike movement challenging Macron’s plan to increase France’s retirement age from 62 to 64. Eight unions have organized protests since January in a rare voice of unity. Student unions have joined in.

Macron had initially refused a demand to meet with unions, but during a state visit on Wednesday to the Netherlands proposed “an exchange” to discuss the follow-up to the Constitutional Council decision. There was no formal response to his offer.

Unions hoped for a strong turnout Thursday to pressure both the government and the members of the Constitutional Council tasked with studying the text of the pension reform plan. Critics challenged the government’s choice to include the pension plan in a budget bill, which significantly accelerated the legislative process. The government’s decision to skirt a parliamentary vote by using special constitutional powers transformed opponents’ anger into fury.

Polls consistently show a majority of French people are opposed to the pension reform.

“The contention is strong, anchored in the people,” said Laurent Berger, head of the moderate CFDT union. If the measure is promulgated, “there will be repercussions,” he warned, noting the “silent anger” among the union rank and file.

Protests and labor strikes often hobble public transportation in Paris, but Metro trains were mostly running smoothly Thursday. The civil aviation authority asked airports in Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes to reduce air traffic by 20 percent.

Emotions high at another day of French protests over Macron's pension plan


Riot police officers take position during a demonstration, Thursday, April 13, 2023 in Paris.

 - Copyright Lewis Joly/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved.

By Euronews with AP • Updated: 13/04/2023 - 

Protesters opposing President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the retirement age to 64 marched again Thursday in cities and towns around France, in a final show of anger before a crucial decision on whether the measure meets constitutional standards.

Demonstrators targeted the Central Bank offices in Paris and briefly invaded the headquarters of luxury conglomerate LVMH - but their attention increasingly centered on the Constitutional Council, which is to decide Friday whether to nix any or all parts of the legislation.

Activists dumped bags of garbage outside the council's columned façade in the morning. Later, another crowd holding flares faced off with a large contingent of riot police that rushed to protect the building.

Why are French workers angry about raising retirement age?
France strikes: Has Emmanuel Macron gotten rid of the generous presidential pension?
Police and protesters clash in 12th day of French rallies against pension reform

Paris police banned all gatherings outside the council from Thursday evening through Saturday morning, in an attempt to reduce pressure on the council members as they make their decision.

Police said some 380,000 people took part in the protests across France on Thursday. The number was down from recent weeks, but unions still managed to mobilise sizable crowds. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, though dozens of injuries were reported among police and protesters.

Youths scuffle with police forces in front of the Paris townhall during a demonstration in Paris, Thursday, April 13, 2023.

Lewis Joly/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved.

Unions had been hoping for a strong turnout Thursday to pressure both the government and the members of the Constitutional Council tasked with studying the text of the pension reform plan. Critics challenged the government’s choice to include the pension plan in a budget bill, which significantly accelerated the legislative process. The government’s decision to skirt a parliamentary vote by using special constitutional powers transformed opponents’ anger into fury.

The trash piles signaled the start of a new strike by garbage collectors, timed to begin with the nationwide protest marches. A previous strike last month left the streets of the French capital filled for days with mounds of reeking refuse.

Polls consistently show a majority of French people are opposed to the pension reform, which Macron says is needed to keep the retirement system afloat as the population ages. Protesters are also angry at Macron himself and a presidency they see as threatening France's worker protections and favoring big business.

Garbage collectors in Paris to strike 'indefinitely' in pension protest

Issued on: 13/04/2023 

Piles of rubbish in Paris during the last waste collection strike.

 AFP - BERTRAND GUAY

Garbage collectors in Paris have voted to resume their strike – promising to once again transform the streets of the capital into a “public rubbish dump” until France’s controversial pensions reform bill is scrapped.

The “big stink” is set to return, 15 days after hundreds of unsightly piles of rubbish gradually disappeared when garbage collectors returned to work, with the aim of injecting fresh momentum into their strike.

They will down tools from Thursday, a day of nationwide cross-sector strikes and protests, following a call from the waste treatment sector of the hardline CGT union.

Paris’s three incinerator plants are also to be blockaded.

The work stoppage comes a day ahead of a key decision by France’s Constitutional Council on the validity of President Emmanuel Macron’s flagship legislation to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

“If we have to last two weeks, we will last two weeks,” said Régis Vieceli, head of the CGT's waste and sanitation sector in Paris, adding that round two would be even stronger than the first.
Rolling strike

At the start of the month the CGT announced its intention to set in motion a "renewable and indefinite" movement after the initial strike from 6-29 March, when 10,000 tons of rubbish piled up on Paris streets.

The movement was suspended after strikers said they could not continue to bear the financial burden of a lengthy walkout.

“Over the past two weeks, we have held discussions with workshops and garages, including those in the private sector," Vieceli said.

“We have worked to ensure we get a high percentage of strikers because, whatever the decision of the Constitutional Council, this reform must fall.

“Emmanuel Macron needs to hear what the workers are telling him. Two more years is not possible.”

France: Wave of strikes hits electricity supplies and transport links

Euronews
Tue, 31 January 2023 at 1:32 am GMT-7

A new wave of strikes on Tuesday to protest French government plans to raise the retirement age to 64 has already impacted transport links and electricity production.

TotalEnegies says between 75% and 100% of workers at its refineries and fuel depots are on strike, while electricity supplier EDF said they're monitoring a drop in power to the national grid equivalent to three nuclear power plants.

"Following the call for a strike, shipments of products from TotalEnergies sites are interrupted today but TotalEnergies will continue to ensure supplies to its service station network and its customers," the group's management said.

In EDF power stations, strikers reduced loads by "nearly 3,000 MW" on Monday night, but without causing any cuts, the company said.

Hundreds of thousands of workers are expected to take to the streets across France on Tuesday, for a second day of industrial action that unions hope will be even more massive than the first, earlier this month.

Authorities say some 1.12 million protesters turned out on 19 January, while unions say more than two million people took part in demonstrations at that time.

Deserted platforms are pictured at the Montparnasse train station Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023 in Paris. - Michel Euler/AP

Transport network hit by strike action

The government had warned in advance of Tuesday's strike about likely disruption to France's transport network.

In the Paris region the metro and local rail services are "very disrupted" say officials. Long distance TGV train services are also impacted, as are regional trains with intercity services almost at a standstill.

Rail operator SNCF said only one in three high-speed TGV trains will operate on Tuesday while disruptions are also expected at French airports and on transnational rail services.

However in Lyon there were at least some bus and tram services running Tuesday morning, and there was a noticeable increase in the numbers of cars on the road as commuters made alternative plans to get to work.

At Bobigny bus station in Paris, pensioner Marie-Hélène Plautin left an hour and a half early for her medical appointment, a journey that normally only takes half an hour by tram.

"I have an appointment with a doctor for the first time in Saint-Denis. Since I know that this strike is going to take place, I wonder if I will be able to go," she said Tuesday morning.

In Bordeaux, Josselin and Alicia Frigier, 40, have just returned from Madrid and after spending several hours on the bus, their train to La Rochelle has been cancelled.

"Instead, they were offered a one-hour train ride and a three-hour bus ride," said Alicia, while her husband conceded that the strike "is surely for a good reason."

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Mass demonstrations start on Tuesday morning

Protest marches are expected to begin at 10:00 CET with union leaders expecting "largely as many people" as in January. "At least I hope so," said Laurent Berger, the Secretary General of the CFDT union on Monday.

At the heart of their grievances is a plan by Emmanuel Macron's government to raise the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030, with a new law to enter into force in September 2023.

In order to receive a full pension, the government's proposal says it will be necessary to work for at least 43 years. By age 67, workers who haven't been active that long will still receive a full pension.

Those who started to work earlier will be able to retire earlier, while disabled workers will be able to retire early. Injured workers will also be allowed to retire early, the proposal says.

The current special retirement plans for some public workers will no longer be applicable for new recruits but the new proposal would raise the minimum pension by €100 per month.

France's trade unions and left-wing parties say that the proposed changes are not needed in order to fund France's pension system. Some have argued instead for higher employee and employer contributions and a crackdown on tax evasion.

They claim that the plan will penalise those who are most vulnerable and increase inequalities.

France braces for major transport woes from pension strikes



Mon, January 30, 2023 

PARIS (AP) — France's national rail operator is recommending that passengers stay home Tuesday to avoid strikes over pensions that are expected to cause major transport woes but largely spare high-speed links to Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Labor unions that mobilized massive street protests in an initial salvo of nationwide strikes earlier this month are hoping for similar success Tuesday to maintain pressure on government plans to raise France's retirement age.

Positions are hardening on both sides as lawmakers begin debating the planned change. France's prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, insisted this weekend that her government's intention to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is “no longer negotiable." Opponents in parliament and labor leaders are determined to prove her wrong.

Rail operator SNCF warned that major network disruptions were expected from Monday night to Wednesday morning, recommending that passengers cancel or postpone trips and work remotely if possible.

Rail services in the Paris region and regional trains across the country are expected to be severely affected, setting up a potential nightmare day for commuters.

Severe disruptions also are expected on France's flagship network of high-speed trains serving cities and major towns, including the Lyria service that links France and Switzerland, the SNCF said.

But it said high-speed Eurostar links with Britain and the Thalys services between France, Belgium and the Netherlands should run largely as normal.

Raising the pension age is one part of a broad bill that is the flagship measure of President Emmanuel Macron’s second term. The bill is meeting widespread popular resistance — more than 1 million people marched in protests against it earlier this month.

Lawmaker Manuel Bompard, whose France Unbowed party is leading the parliamentary push against Macron's plans, called for “the biggest possible” turnout Tuesday in strikes and protests.

The government says its proposals are necessary to keep the pension system solvent as France’s life expectancy has grown and birth rates have declined.

Unions and left-wing parties want big companies or wealthier households to pitch in more to balance the pension budget instead.

The bill was going to a parliamentary commission Monday ahead of full debate in the National Assembly on Feb. 6. Opponents have submitted 7,000 proposed amendments that will further complicate the bill's legislative passage.

The Associated Press

In full view: Angry French diplomats strike over reform

By Elaine Ganley
June 3, 2022 — 

Paris: Members of the French diplomatic corps dropped their veil of invisibility to go on a rare strike on Thursday, angered by a planned reform they worry will hurt their careers and France’s standing in the world. It was the second such strike in nearly 20 years.

Between 100 and 200 diplomats dropped the traditional reserve that often defines their work to demonstrate in full view of the imposing Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the home base for the foreign service. In overseas posts, ranging from Tokyo to the Middle East and Washington, numerous diplomats, including some ambassadors, honoured the day-long strike.


Members of the French diplomatic corps dropped their discretion to go on a rare strike in Paris on Thursday.CREDIT:AP

They want President Emmanuel Macron to scrap a plan to merge career diplomats with a larger body of civil servants, starting in January, or at least hold a dialogue.

The plan, announced by Macron in an April decree, will reportedly affect about 800 diplomats.

 Opponents claim that’s just the beginning.

“We risk the disappearance of our professional diplomacy,” a group of 500 diplomats, wrote in a commentary published last week in Le Monde newspaper. “Today, [diplomatic] agents ... are convinced it is the very existence of the ministry that is now being put into question.”

The planned change comes amid the war in Ukraine and complex negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, and while France holds the European Union’s rotating presidency.

Diplomats strike near the French Foreign Ministry in Paris.

CREDIT:AP

France has the world’s third-largest diplomatic network with some 1800 diplomats and about 13,500 officials working at the foreign ministry.

Ministry officials have said the reforms will preserve the diplomatic profession and careers.
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Newly appointed Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, herself a career diplomat, has not commented. However, she will meet with unions and representatives of the protest movement for an initial “listening” session next week, the ministry said.

Demonstrators held banners reading “Professional diplomats on strike”, “Diplomacy in danger”, “Investing for peace is worth it, no?” and “There can be no long-term diplomacy with short-term diplomats” across from the ministry, known as the Quai d’Orsay for its location by the River Seine.

French diplomats are angered by a planned reform they worry will hurt their careers and France’s standing in the world. CREDIT:AP

“To say that diplomacy is in danger, that word may be too strong,” said Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, a former ambassador to China, Japan and Britain, who was taking part. But, he added, “diplomacy will be weakened,” at a time when those skills are especially needed.

“To become an ambassador, before getting to the top of the ladder, it is necessary to actually tick some boxes,” said another demonstrating diplomat, identifying himself only as Benjamin. “And this reform supports the idea that there is no need for such skills.” Like others not yet at the top rung, he declined to give his full name.

The government reform is meant to modernise and diversify France’s diplomatic corps, created in the 16th century, and to bring down the walls of what some in the government see as an elite institution turned in on itself.

It will put diplomats into a large pool from all branches of public service, encouraging switches to other ministries and forcing personnel to compete with outsiders for prized diplomatic posts.

Diplomats contend their job requires specialisation and expertise acquired over years in posts around the world — and has no room for amateurs.

“Today, I am on strike,” Deputy Ambassador to the United States Aurelie Bonal tweeted. “Diplomats negotiate, talk, compromise. They generally do not go on strike.”

Bonal raised yet another worry that protesting diplomats contend the change could generate: cronyism. “Without a diplomatic corps, it will be much easier for the [government] to appoint friends at all levels of diplomatic jobs,” she tweeted.

Dominique de Villepin, a former prime minister and foreign minister known for an eloquent 2003 speech at the United Nations in which he declared French opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq, labelled the pending reform in a tweet last month “A historic fault”.

For France, the loss of diplomats’ separate status in the civil service means “a loss of independence, a loss of competence, a loss of memory that will weigh heavily on the years ahead,” Villepin tweeted.

Even before Macron’s decree, frustration had festered in the Foreign Ministry’s halls over cuts in funding, personnel and outsourcing. The group commentary in Le Monde deplored “decades of marginalisation of the ministry’s role within the [French] state” as well as “a vertiginous reduction” in personnel — down by 30 per cent in 10 years, the diplomats claim. Funding, they said, is but 0.7 per cent of the state budget.

The Twitter hashtag, #diplo2metier (diplomat by profession), shows a number of ambassadors around the world joining in or supporting of the strike.

“Defending the interests of France and serving France is not improvised,” French Consul General in San Francisco Frederic Jung wrote. “No doubt we need to reform and strengthen our diplomacy, but not to erase it,” said the diplomat of 18 years.

“I will be on strike ... to protest the reform of the diplomatic corps and the continued reduction of means for our diplomacy,” French Ambassador to Kuwait Claire Le Flecher tweeted on her personal account.

Bonal, the deputy ambassador to the United States, said the job of diplomat was more than “gorging on Ferreros in touristic countries. The truth is we also visit morgues & jails; we work very late hours, not always in safe countries,” she tweeted. “It’s a vocation, not a three-year experience.”

Bonal said she was among those who went on the first such strike in 2003, a protest over budget cuts.


AP, with Reuters