Main French trade union announces mobilisation for September and October
Many sectors including transport and healthcare could be affected
Thousands of workers may go on strike in the coming weeks
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One of France’s major trade unions has announced ‘mobilisation’ plans for the coming weeks that will likely see members go on strike action.
The action may see tens of thousands of members of the CGT (Confédération Générale du Travail), France’s second-largest and most radical trade union, walk out.
Exact details are scarce, but general secretary of the CGT Sophie Binet said the timing would be “at the end of September, beginning of October.”
The CGT has branches across many sectors in France, notably in transport – both aerian and rail – healthcare, and public services.
In addition, the union has a strong following in the energy sector, including workers from national energy companies and grid operators, and workers at petrol refineries.
Action will be centred around the high cost of living and a continuation of the fight against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms passed last year.
There will also be a focus on limiting the “ violent austerity” measures expected in the 2025 budget, Ms Binet said in an interview with the union’s magazine La Vie Ouvrière.
Inter-union movement unlikely
Mass ‘mobilisations’ in 2023 against the pension reform drew together a wider inter-union movement, made up of the country’s eight major unions – a rarity in France.
They continued to work together throughout the year, organising strikes, marches, and demonstrations, but this wider alliance seems to have fizzled out.
“I'm not sure that all the unions will [join the mobilisation], but that's not a tragedy,” Ms Binet said.
Alongside a focus on the pension reforms and anti-austerity, the movement will look to highlight issues around gender equality, reindustrialisation, and a reform of public services.
Depending on who President Macron appoints as the next prime minister, the movement may also focus on the election results.
Ms Binet said Mr Macron’s – current – refusal to appoint Lucie Castets, candidate of the left-wing alliance Nouveau Front Populaire as head of government is “a breach of institutional logic”.
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“The president has decreed the Olympic truce by a form of royal will, but there has been no truce in the social break-up this summer, strong attacks on employment particularly in industry,” Ms Binet added.
