SOCIAL MOBILIZATION: Manifest France, railwaymen, civils servant, air-traffic controllers but also several categories of employees

First test this March 22nd for the government, which will be able to measure the extent of the social dispute, after the call to the strike of the railway worker trade–unions and of staffs of the civil service, against various reforms, in particular that of the SNCF.

Thousands of people ravel this Thursday to defend the statute of the civils servant and the railwaymen, education and a quality public service, vis–a–vis a government determined to reform.

Pedagogy will be indeed a challenge of size for the trade unions, often confronted with the speech ground well their opponents who schematize their combat with the safeguarding of the statute of railwayman. The various strike movements will have besides the objective to sensitize the French with the real issues of the railway reform and the civil service. “One sees governmental attacks against the hospital, education, transport, it is necessary to show with the government which the French are anxious for the future of the public service”, Bruno Poncet continues.

Several thousands of people ravelled in middle of day on Canebière in Marseilles, 5000 in Grenoble, nearly 10 ‘ 000 to Nantes and 9500 in Lyon. But also 1300 at Auch, 2300 in Rheims, 1800 in Saint–Nazaire, 4500 in Perpignan, 1600 in Foix or 4800 in Rouen, according to the police.

Everywhere civils servant of which staffs of health, railwaymen but also of the pensioners and young people, students or high–school pupils even of lawyers, protested together against the reforms of the government which touch them.

In Paris, scuffles between young people, sometimes hooded, and police burst close to the Republic. Incidents also burst in Nantes, with interpellations. Approximately 180 demonstrations were announced in France by the seven trade unions of the civil service (CGT, FO, FSU, CFTC, Interdependent, FA–FP and CFE–CGC) to claim, inter alia, a rise of the purchasing power.

The police retorted with water cannons vis–a–vis the hooded young people who devoted themselves to degradations and launched projectiles on the police officers to Paris. Projectile jets on the police officers and of degradations during the demonstrations in Paris. According to the direction of the SNCF, there would be 35.4% strikers at the national level. It is a question of a calculation to be left “the catches service”. On its side, state education announced to 12.8% strikers.

Side railwaymen, anger is sharp vis–a–vis the will of the government to reform the SNCF by ordinances, by in particular giving up some the statute of railwaymen at the time of recruitment. A “national demonstration” of railwaymen, joined by a dozen left parties, had left around 14:30 the station of the East. “We are here nearly 20 ‘ 000”, to the microphone one said organizers. The procession was to join with Bastille that of the civils servant at the beginning of Bercy.

“France enters one moment of suffering”, with the strikers who “will lose days of wages” and the daily life of million people (which) will be disturbed by the strike”, Jean–Luc Mélenchon (LFI) declared. Two distinct surveys show that the French are shared on these mobilizations, supporting them but also deciding in favour of the majority of the reforms undertaken by the government.

The demonstrations gathered 40,000 people in Paris Thursday, 400,000 in France according to the first CGT estimate.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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