Warm-up lap before January 31. Workers in the energy sector mobilized on Thursday January 26 in power stations, refineries, ports and docks against the pension reform, with actions ” Robin Hood “ carried out in parallel with the strike.
The movement will be partly extended this Friday, January 27 at the call of the CGT Federation of Mines and Energy, on strike renewable since January 19 and which had called for 48 hours of mobilization.
” On strike until retirement ” ? In Paris, demonstrators determined to mobilize over time
Scheduled to also last two days in the refineries, it was however suspended Thursday evening on the TotalEnergies sites, Benjamin Tange, CGT central delegate, told AFP. “The employees who are in the movement say that it would be better to start on the right foot on Tuesday”had explained earlier in the day Eric Sellini, head of CGT TotalEnergies.
Preserve and prepare the ground for the national strike on Tuesday, January 31. At the call of all the unions, it will affect all sectors: schools, civil servants, transport, services… One of them, the UNSA, has identified more than 200 gathering places, as many as for the day of the 19.
“Robin Hood” actions throughout France
At the same time, the energy officers carried out a number of so-called ” Robin Hood “ according to the CGT, for “intensify the balance of power” in the fight against pension reform.
Pension reform: the mirage of the “cagnotte”
From Lille to Marseille and everywhere in France, they have “placed with free electricity or gas” schools, HLM and hospitals, granted reduced rates to small businesses, and restored power to users who had been deprived of it.
“Coordinated throughout the territory, this is undoubtedly a first”told AFP Fabrice Coudour, federal secretary of the CGT Federation of Mines and Energy, warning that ” This is just the beginning “ of this type of action.
The ports at a standstill, the hydraulic power stations too
The National Federation of Ports and Docks of the CGT also reported in a statement of a “strong mobilization of workers in almost all French ports, with often 100% strikers and ports completely shut down”.
“The will of today’s action is to show that the balance of power is going up a notch, and that if we wish, we can go as far as the paralysis of the country”underlined Gwenaël Plagne, CGT union representative at the Cordemais plant (Loire-Atlantique).
Pension reform: how far will the showdown go?
EDF said it had lost up to 1,700 MW of power on its hydraulic park, the equivalent of more than one nuclear reactor, before a return to normal in the afternoon. The company did not wish to communicate figures on the extent of the mobilization.
The manager of the high and very high voltage lines RTE confirmed with AFP that “drops took place this afternoon, but without affecting the security of electricity supply”.
The town hall of Paris closed on January 31
Emmanuel Macron’s reform, which all the unions oppose and which will arrive in Parliament on Monday, January 30, would lead to the abolition of special regimes at EDF or Engie (ex-GDF Suez).
The mayor (PS) of Paris Anne Hidalgo announced Thursday that she joined the call launched by the boss of the PCF, Fabien Roussel, to symbolically close the town halls on January 31, in solidarity with the mobilization against the pension reform.
As of Wednesday, cuts to wind and solar farms had been claimed by the CGT in the Montluçon sector, as well as in an industrial zone in Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne), Thursday morning. The incident was quickly resolved, said Enedis, who will file a complaint.
In the refineries, where a big strike for wages had already taken place in October which had caused gasoline shortages throughout the country, shipments of fuel to the depots were blocked, with the usual slogan: “nothing goes in, nothing comes out”. “A great day for expanding the movement and fighting for the general interest before the 31st”summarizes Fabrice Coudour.
