It was already the watchword of the eight main French unions. The inter-union of representative organizations at the RATP joins them. It calls again for a strike on Tuesday February 7 and Saturday February 11 against the pension reform.
“We call on all company agents to continue and amplify the mobilization through strike and demonstration on Tuesday February 7 and then Saturday February 11 to say no to this reform”, wrote the CGT, FO, UNSA on Wednesday. and the CFE-CGC in a joint press release. “The union unity at the RATP is solid”, assured the four organizations, which are pleased with “the success of the mobilization” Tuesday, “in the street everywhere in France and particularly at the RATP”.
Very disrupted public transport
“The widening of the movement is indisputable,” said the inter-union, even though the disturbances were less significant on the RATP network on Tuesday than on January 19, the first national day of protest against the government’s pension reform.
Most Paris metro lines operated at idle on Tuesday, with a majority of them only open during rush hour. The RER was also affected, while trams and buses were less affected. Will there also be a strike at the SNCF on Saturday February 11, the date of the start of the school holidays in zone B? The inter-union of the public company must meet Wednesday at 2 p.m.
At least 1.27 million people on the streets
The mobilization was very well attended on Tuesday, January 31. Everywhere in France, the processions displayed the same refusal of the flagship reform of Emmanuel Macron and his postponement of the legal age of departure to 64 years.
According to the unions, more than 2.5 million people marched in the country. The Ministry of the Interior counted half as many, but still more than 1.27 million. More than the first mobilization of January 19, and even more than the historic record of 2010, at the height of the protest against a previous pension reform.