Will there be power cuts among elected supporters of pension reform? Since the beginning of the week, the question arises after the threats of the CGT federation of mines and energy (FNME-CGT). The idea, which has divided left and right, is however more symbol than “real threat” assured the secretary general of the CGT this Thursday, January 19. “L’Obs” takes stock.
Last week, the FNME-CGT presented its “battle plan” to get the “pure and simple withdrawal” of the government reform project. In particular, it provided for a “recovery of the work tool in all its forms”, which involved “electricity and gas restorations to the most precarious” but also “targeted cuts”.
On Tuesday, the secretary general of the FNME-CGT clarified this last point: “We are going to see those who want the reform, who support it, those, we are going to take care of them. We are going to see them in their hotlines, we are going to talk to them, and then if by chance they do not understand the world of work, we will target them in the cuts that we will be able to organize., said Sébastien Menesplier. However, he had assured that the union would be “vigilant to avoid collateral damage, the objective is not to alienate users”.
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The boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau quickly denounced “illegal methods, which come out of the rule of law”, and demanded sanctions. “If such practices are carried out, I ask the government to take the necessary sanctions and the companies concerned too”added the LR president of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand.
The government has also seized on these threats, spokesman Olivier Véran judging them “unacceptable in a democracy”. The patron saint of Renaissance deputies Aurore Bergé estimated that “the objective is to create a climate so that in the end the deputies are no longer free in their mandate and are afraid” to vote for the reform, but ” it will not work “. President Emmanuel Macron also appeared to allude to these threats on Wednesday, saying that it was necessary “to distinguish between the unions which call for demonstrations in a traditional and republican framework, and those which are in a deliberate process of blocking the country, even of targeting parliamentarians”.
“It was more of a symbol than a real threat”
But the secretary general of the CGT Philippe Martinez went further on Wednesday, by suggesting to the electricians fighting against the reform to cut off the electricity of the “beautiful properties” of the “billionaires”whose “no effort” is not requested. “Cuts are not my cam”, reacted his CFDT counterpart Laurent Berger on TMC on Wednesday evening.
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Finally, Philippe Martinez seemed to go back this Thursday morning, a few hours before the mobilization against pensions. “It was more a symbol than a real threat, to show the discontent that exists in these professions”he nuanced on Public Senate. “It’s not in our habits to do that, it was to express a real anger. »
It is far from being the first time that targeted cuts have been used as a means of pressure during a strike movement. Already in May 1968, targeted cuts against companies had been organized. More recently in May 2020 against the pension reform, the CGT had claimed a cut of several hours with 60,000 customers, including the Rungis market, in Ile-de-France. A cut-off had also taken place for a few minutes at the Paris headquarters of the CFDT, which then seemed ready to negotiate with the government.
These actions, although illegal, are rarely punished, because it is particularly difficult to identify the strikers at the origin of the cut. But EDF, RTE (Electricity transport network) and Enedis systematically file a complaint when they occur.
An escalating drop in electricity production
The threats of targeted cuts are not the only lever of the strikers in the energy sector. This Thursday, the cuts in electricity production organized by EDF agents to challenge the government plan on pensions intensified sharply. “This is the beginning of the fight until the withdrawal !! »writes the CGT Mines Energie federation in a leaflet on social networks, announcing “more than 7,000 MW of reduction in production without any impact on users”.
The operator of the French electricity network RTE observes for its part “a drop of 5,000 MW, approximately the equivalent of twice the consumption of Paris” to the point of sending to the operators “a message that asks for the declines to stop”.
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Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt deplored these production cuts: “It’s not a good way to mobilize, it’s very regrettable”he criticized on LCI.
These production cuts are a mechanical effect of the strike, Philippe Martinez explained on Public Sénat: “There will be power cuts, drops in production…”he blurts out. “When there is no longer anyone in a company, there is no more production, it’s the same thing [dans l’énergie] »explains Philippe Martinez.
But “As they are very responsible employees, whose mission is to serve citizens, they will give priority to public goods”, he specified. He also recalled the existence of “Robin Hood operations”, explaining that “employees on strike, energy agents, are used to restoring power to French citizens who can no longer pay their bills”.
A first percentage of strikers should be communicated at midday by EDF and a rate for all the electricity and gas industries should be given around 5 p.m. The mobilization promises to be strong in this sector whose special pension scheme must disappear for new hires if the reform is adopted.
