schools, refinery, transport… Which sectors will be mobilized?

STRIKE 31 JANUARY. The strike day of January 31 against the pension reform is preparing. Several sectors have planned to mobilize such as transport or schools. What disruptions are expected? Response sector by sector.

Vigil of weapon for the unions which polish the last details before the strike of January 31. This Tuesday is announced as a “black” day with a very disturbed daily life in certain sectors. The mobilizations planned against the pension reform are beginning to become clearer and transport has already warned users of the difficulties awaiting them in stations, from this Monday evening from 7 p.m. The parents of pupils will also be put in difficulty by the strikes in the schools. The inter-union, which hopes to witness an even more followed strike movement on January 31, is already welcoming the enthusiasm around the mobilization. “But we must start discussing a plan that will lay the foundations for a renewable strike”, wrote 300 trade unionists, intellectuals and activists authors of a column published in the Sunday newspaperthis January 29th.

The inter-professional strike will affect all sectors and many French people could take part in it, it is the bet that the inter-union is making to respond to the government and force it to back down. But the fight promises to be difficult since this Sunday the Prime Minister assured without detour on France info : “It is no longer negotiable. Retirement at 64 and the acceleration of the Touraine reform, this is the compromise that we proposed after hearing the employers’ organizations and trade unions”. A reaction that pushes the opposition to join more in the fight against pension reform, especially the left. The leader of La France insoumise Manuel Bompard has also said he is in favor of a potential renewable strike movement on the antenna of BFM-TV. And the left-wing deputy scolded the executive: “If you don’t want the country to be blocked, the small government minority must renounce this reform.” Before going as far as blocking the country, what are the expected disruptions on January 31?

Transport severely disrupted on January 31

Over the weekend, SNCF transport users were warned of the first disruptions to train traffic for Tuesday. The company has planned a greatly slowed down traffic on all trains with an average of one TGV out of three maintained throughout the territory against 2 TER out of 10 and 1 RER out of 10 for lines C, D and E and J, L, N, P, R. On the Intercités side, only one round trip will be maintained throughout the day.

The RATP follows the movement and announced “very disrupted traffic on the RER and metro networks” and slightly less affected on the surface for buses or trams. But it is not only in Paris that transport will malfunction. Disturbances are expected in all metropolises, in Marseille the metro should not run and elsewhere such as Bordeaux, Lille or Strasbourg, the circulation of trams should be greatly slowed down.

A call for a school strike

For the third time a call for a strike has been launched in the schools and if the SUD-éducation union is the spokesperson for this initiative, it is a priori joined by all the education union federations which have signed a communicated published on January 23. SUD calls not only for strikes on January 31 for an “even stronger” mobilization, but also for a renewal of the movement. The unions said they were “united and determined to have this pension reform project withdrawn”.

If teachers and all school staff are invited to strike on January 31 against the pension reform. The high school students are also ready to mobilize and the high school student union called for the blocking of schools this Tuesday but also from this Monday in places. Some 60 high schools had been blocked during the previous strike, the objective is revised upwards for this Tuesday.

Airports on strike on January 31?

Anger is also rising in airline companies. At the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC), the USAC-CGT filed a strike notice for January 31 and asked for a 20% reduction in flights organized during the day at Paris-Orly. Note that the CGT Air France also called for a strike on Tuesday.

At Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, mobilization is also possible even if nothing has yet been formalized. On RMCLoris Foreman, CGT delegate in a Roissy company had warned that a large-scale movement on the strategic airport site could weigh heavily on the economy: “For [que le gouvernement] backs down on the pension reform, we must block everything that is strategic, everything that is economic. […] If you block the airport, you block the economy.”

The January 31 strike followed in the refineries and the energy sector?

Refineries already have a specific schedule for strikes with one move scheduled before January 31 and another after. But the CGT-Petrole has decided to add the date of the national mobilization to its list of actions. As during the first two mobilizations, refineries should be blocked and deliveries interrupted.

On the side of energy and power plants, the line of attack has not yet been determined. The unions did not speak of a strike, on the other hand actions were mentioned with, among other things, reductions in production, power cuts of one or two hours and free electricity in certain types of establishments. such as hospitals or schools for example. Actions of this kind have already taken place since January 26, the previous day of strike in the sector.

The strike followed in the public services?

The story is always the same in the public service: the unions continue to campaign against the pension reform especially against the postponement of the legal age and call in a press release “to participate actively” in the strike of January 31. State, territorial and hospital officials are affected by this call. The inter-union recalled that in its sector the previous mobilization was “crowned with success”.

Ski resorts and vacation spots on strike?

This is a sector that did not mobilize earlier but with the approach of the winter holidays, the resorts will be affected by the strike on January 31. The two ski lift unions, the CGT and FO, have filed strike notices for the day of national mobilization. “The lifts will operate normally from the next day [le 1er février, ndlr]. We don’t want to further weaken companies that are already in difficulty,” said Eric Becker, FO General Secretary for ski lifts and seasonal workers at theAFP.

Town halls closed for the January 31 strike

Like the town hall of Paris, several other municipalities have announced the closure of their premises on January 31, responding to the call launched by Fabien Roussel. Which relies on the closure of “several hundred” municipalities. Anne Hidalgo’s entourage announced to BFM TV the terms of this closure at the Paris City Hall. “Concretely, next Tuesday, we close the Town Hall during the time of the event: the exhibitions, the administrative library, the shop of the tourist office, we do not hold meetings. The only exceptions, the crèche and the stopover for homeless women remain open,” said the city councilor’s team.

The LFI mayor of Faches-Thumesnil in the North also announced via Twitter the closure of his town hall: “so that the agents of the city of Faches-Thumesnil can go to the demonstration in Lille in the afternoon during the gdream of January 31, I decided that the hours of strike would not be deducted from the salary from 2 p.m. Retirement is 60 years at full rate!”