the third round of union mobilization

New chapter in the showdown. While the deputies started the examination of the pension bill in public session Monday, February 6, the opponents of the project will again be counted in the street, this Tuesday, during a third day of national union strike. After more than 1 million demonstrators on January 19 and 31, according to the police, many sectors of activity are announcing a new “black day”.

Starting with transport: the operators foresee a “severely disturbed” traffic, slightly less tense than during the previous mobilization. The CGT-cheminots and SUD-rail also called to continue the strike on Wednesday 8, at the same time as their counterparts in the energy sector. At the FNME-CGT, EDF’s main union, the movement has already started on Monday 6 and will last three days.

The tortoise rather than the hare

Finally, even the most dissenting have made the choice of the measure. “The unions know that it is better to play the turtle card than the hare: the real challenge will be to hold out over time”, analyzes Bernard Vivier, of the Higher Institute of Labor.

Thus, the CGT TotalEnergies announced a strike of forty-eight hours, from Tuesday, rather than seventy-two hours and renounces to block production as it had initially envisaged. Similarly, the unions representing the SNCF will not call for a strike on Saturday February 11, the day of departure on vacation for zone B and the middle of the holidays for zone A, but only to demonstrate.

Moderation pushed by the CFDT

“The protest pole makes concessions”, continues Bernard Vivier. A moderation pushed by the CFDT, the first trade union in France, which allows “a united trade union movement”: “They favor the battle of the street, which has gained momentum” between the two previous mobilizations, recalls the economist by training . January 31 thus saw the number of strikers drop, but that of demonstrators increase. “This allows them to keep the attention of public opinion and avoid a loss of popularity” when leaving on vacation.

The challenge for the social partners will also be to keep control of this “social anger”, as they face competition in the political arena, in particular from La France insoumise. But also by collectives or coordinations more and more present in processions, particularly in small and medium-sized towns. “Under the ashes of the yellow vests movement, analyzes the economist, the ember is still there. »

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Previous mobilizations

1995. More than three weeks of total paralysis of transport against the Juppé reform which plans to align public and private pensions.

2003. From 1 to 2 million demonstrators and a series of strikes against the reform which increases the contribution period and partially aligns the public and private schemes.

2010. Massive demonstrations against the Fillon government’s plan to postpone the retirement age from 60 to 62.

2019-2020. Record strikes against the plan to create a “universal” point-based pension scheme.

2023. January 31 brought together between 1.27 million (police) and 2.5 million demonstrators (unions), a mobilization greater than that of January 19 and the historic record of 2010 on the same theme of pensions.

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