Demonstrations throughout France for wages and pensions

At least 200 gathering places were planned throughout France for this first day of interprofessional mobilization since the start of the school year, according to Céline Verzeletti, confederal secretary of the CGT.

In Paris, the procession will leave at 2:00 p.m. from Place Denfert-Rochereau, in the direction of Bastille. A police source expects 3 to 6,000 people in the capital. They were in comparison 3,200 on March 17 and 8,800 on January 27, according to the Interior.

Among the participants, union representatives but also elected officials, the left-wing parties members of the Nupes and the NPA who supported this day of mobilization, as well as a group of associations.

Several thousand people (4,300 according to the police) demonstrated in the morning in Marseille. The leader of insubordinate France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, made a quick appearance at the start of the demonstration before leaving without making a statement.

Many dockers from the port of Marseille were present in the parade in which a banner of the rebellious affirmed "with the Popular Union, retirement is 60 years", another of the yellow vests said "no to 49-3" for pension reform, a third calling for the use of "secateurs for super profiteers".

The secretary general of the second French union, the CGT, Philippe Martinez said Tuesday to expect a mobilization "much higher than those of January and March", noting that there were "calls to strike in many professions" .

The Ministry of National Education reported at midday a rate of participation in the social movement of 11.01% among teachers.

On the transport side, three out of four unions, including the CFDT-Cheminots, have called for a strike at the SNCF. The CGT railway workers claimed "1 out of 3 railway workers on strike".

Disruptions were expected on the TER, Transilien in Ile-de-France, Intercités and Ouigo lines, but the TGV Inoui were to run almost normally.

On the side of the RATP, where only the CGT called for the strike, the mobilization was to be moderate with disturbances in the buses, the trams and the RER B, but not in the metro or the RER A.

To the initial slogan calling for an increase in wages, pensions, scholarships and social minima in the face of unprecedented inflation (5.9% in August), was added the issue of pensions.

- Union "unity" on pensions -

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced to AFP on Thursday that the government would open a new round of consultations with a view to adopting a bill "before winter", allowing it to come into force in the summer of 2023. a reform providing for the "gradual postponement of the retirement age by four months per year, culminating in 65 years in 2031".

Thursday's mobilization day is held without the CFDT or FO.

"Everything that the world of work has been able to conquer has always been achieved in the unity of trade unions. So we have to work on this question of unity", commented Mr. Martinez last week.

The leader of the CGT has no doubt, however, that all the unions are coming together to fight the pension reform project, as they succeeded in doing on unemployment insurance.

"All the unions in France are against working until the age of 64 or 65," Mr. Martinez repeated Thursday on France 2. As for participating in the consultations planned by the executive from next week, "if it is to tell us that we are discussing the extension of the retirement age, we will not go long”, he warned.

All the national trade union organizations (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFTC, CFE-CGC, FSU, Solidaires and Unsa) are to meet at Unsa headquarters on October 3. "There could be an announcement of a demonstration" at the end of this meeting, according to Ms. Verzeletti.

The left-wing parties plan for their part to organize on October 16 a "big march against the high cost of living and climate inaction", without the support, for a time envisaged, of the CGT.