A standoff between some of the unions and the Prime Minister will play out this Tuesday both in the streets and in the National Assembly. Michel Barnier will experience his first social movement as a tenant of Matignon when he delivers his general policy speech.
More than 180 demonstrations are in fact planned in France at the call of the CGT, the FSU and Solidaires to demand in particular the repeal of the pension reform and an increase in wages, at a time when the Prime Minister will reveal his priorities to the Bourbon Palace.
A particularly anticipated speech
The processions will parade in the morning in Grenoble or Reims, then in Orléans, Marseille, Rennes, Bordeaux and from 2 p.m. in Paris, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Lille or Dunkirk. The CGT lists 185 gatherings. For comparison, the union had more than 200 on May 1 and 250 during the last day of mobilization against the pension reform in June 2023. In Paris, the authorities are counting on 5,000 to 10,000 people for the demonstration planned between Denfert -Rochereau and Bastille.
The ambition of the organizers of the social movement is to put a little more pressure on Michel Barnier. The Prime Minister’s highly anticipated speech should set the course for his policy, after last week’s meetings with all the social partners. The unions demanded the abandonment of the unemployment insurance reform, new negotiations on the employment of seniors, the repeal of the pension reform and an increase in wages.
“Our concerns remain,” declared CGT general secretary Sophie Binet last week from the Matignon courtyard. The trade unionist expects the Prime Minister “to respond to social demands” and to “explain how he will increase wages […]this is the number one request,” she repeated Monday evening on BFMTV. This Tuesday “will be a first step” which “will allow us to count the forces and show our determination”, affirms for his part the secretary general of the FSU, Benoît Teste.
Unions fear weak mobilization
Several youth organizations, including the Student Union, Unef, Fidl and the High School Union joined the mobilization. However, “the feedback from the field is not good”, confided a union source on condition of anonymity, while another source predicts “a moderately attended strike”.
Because, unlike the united battle against pension reform, the CFDT, FO, CGE-CGC, CFTC and Unsa refused to join the mobilization. “Protesting on the day when the Prime Minister makes his general policy speech is still a little complicated,” CFTC leader Cyril Chabanier recently estimated. “We will listen […] and if we see that things are not going in the right direction, we do not rule out being able to mobilize. »