The health crisis, its confinements, its exit certificates, its wearing of a mask and its restrictions on assembly have strongly disrupted French union life, used to strikes, for 18 months. But the reforms announced at the start of the school year and the start of the presidential campaign pushed the unions to act. The CGT, FO, Solidaires, FSU, as well as the Fidl, the MNL, the UNEF and the UNL for young people call for demonstrations on Tuesday to defend purchasing power, contest the entry into force of the reform of unemployment insurance and reject the idea of a new pension reform.
“We will arrive at 200 assembly points, this is a first indication which is positive for us”, welcomed Céline Verzeletti, Confederal Secretary of the CGT, who publishes a map of the gatherings on its website. Regarding the disruption involved in this strike movement, here is what to expect.
Slight disruptions in transport
The first sector usually affected, transport should be relatively spared. Cities like Strasbourg, Marseille, Bordeaux or even Rouen are still planning disruptions, without blocking however. In Paris, the RATP ensures that “traffic will be normal” on the metro, RER (A and B) and tram networks, except for the T3 A tram. “Which will be very disturbed,” said a spokesperson for the Ile-de-France public transport authority to AFP. Bus traffic will be “slightly disrupted”, he added.
On the national network, TGV, Thalys, Eurostar and Lyria traffic will be “normal” according to SNCF, while Intercités, Transilien and TER traffic will be “almost normal”, despite “possible local adaptations”, as in Normandy where TER traffic “Will be disturbed”. In Ile-de-France, the company anticipates disruptions on lines E, D, P.
Closed schools and leisure centers
For working parents, the day could be a headache in places. The city of Nantes announces possible disruptions in school and extracurricular time. the Ministry of National Education specifies that a minimum reception service is set up when 25% or more of teachers are on strike. But the call to strike also concerns “the municipal staff who very often manage the canteens in primary schools and leisure centers”, explains The Dispatch.
Municipal extracurricular services (morning and evening reception, catering) could thus be closed, as in Villejuif or Cenon. The parents concerned, who are invited to get information from the schools, will therefore have to pick up their child for the lunch break and at the end of the class.