The CGT is preparing to organize an interprofessional strike day on Tuesday, October 18, despite the discontent of part of the citizenry. The union organization bets on an extension of the movement in favor of wage increases.
“The act of requisitioning set the gunpowder on fire,” accused the general secretary of the CGT, Philippe Martínez, on BFMTV Thursday morning, claiming to have told Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne that the government was doing “a stupid thing.” .
Mercredi soir, after Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon (Seine-Maritime) où il était venu support les salariés grévistes d’ExxonMobil, il a appelé “les salariés (…) à se mettre en grève et à amplifier les mobilisations dans the following days”.
Towards an interprofessional strike day?
According to Céline Verzeletti, confederal secretary of the union, the national interprofessional strike day must be announced by the confederation at noon, “very likely” for Tuesday, after a meeting with the departmental unions of the CGT.
Asked Wednesday night on France 2, the President of the Republic reiterated that the State would not hesitate to use the weapon of requisitions to allow the distribution of fuel.
Energy, but also the public service, the food industry, the railway workers could join forces with those in the refineries.
A sign of future convergences? On Wednesday night, a rally brought together CGT, FO, Solidaires and many left-wing politicians, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon, on the esplanade of the Town Hall.
Solidaires should decide on Thursday afternoon to call a “strike next Tuesday for salary increases”, according to its general co-delegate Simon Duteil.
“The request is an escalation”
On the other hand, there is little chance that the CFDT or the CFTC will join the movement, both having disassociated themselves this weekend from the strikes at TotalEnergies, described as “preventive”.
“The call to strike, what changes in the end? It doesn’t change anything,” CFDT number one Laurent Berger told France Inter on Thursday, once again calling on the parties to negotiate. “The request is escalating,” he lamented.
“Reformist” union leaders highlight on condition of anonymity the internal problems that underlie the conflict, the Chemical Federation, opposed to the line of Philippe Martínez, having in the background, according to them, to score points with the militants a few months before the CGT Congress , scheduled for 2023.
“We are going to speed up our mobilization process,” said the union leader. Many union activists will be like her at the demonstration “against the high cost of living” organized by Nupes on Sunday, perhaps before the organization of a joint day of leftist parties and unions later.
Isn’t the CGT afraid with these strikes and demonstrations of alienating the French, for many exasperated by the difficulties in refueling?
The risk of alienating public opinion
According to an Elabe poll for BFMTV, a small majority of French people approve of the mobilization of TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil employees (42% approve, 40% disapprove, 18% are indifferent).
For the political scientist Dominique Andolfatto, the CGT “knows that it is splitting”. But she “probably reckons it’s pretty positive for her,” especially “in relation to her base and followers.”
Source: BFM TV
