March 7th will not only be the 6th day of mobilization against the pension reform, it is also the one that should mark the hardening of the social movement in the face of the government’s lack of response. Philippe Martinez expects a massive mobilization, and why not millions of protesters in the streets of France.
“There must be millions of strikers that day throughout France, there must be a solidarity movement,” Philippe Martínez explained on Sunday on the BFM Politique program. As an example of solidarity, he cites the artisans and merchants who could lower their curtains when the processions pass, which would not weigh much on their income.
“We have to go talk”
The CGT and the other unions have been organizing for several days to make this day a key date for the mobilization that showed signs of weakening on February 16. If the inter-union has announced that it wants to put France on hold that day unless article 7 is abolished, once the objective has been announced, much remains to be done.
“It is not because the union leaders say that the country must be stopped that the country is going to stop, we have to go and discuss it”, explains Philippe Martínez.
If the scope of the movement is difficult to anticipate, its duration also seems uncertain since the CGT wants a renewable strike while other unions are more timid about it. “On March 7 there will be new general assemblies that will say we continue tomorrow,” Philippe Martínez explained to the BFMTV microphone.
Country stagnant or blocked?
“The exact term is country stopped,” answers Philippe Martínez when asked what the scope of the “blockade” will be.
It ends anyway by admitting that a stopped country leads to blockades.
The unions have managed to maintain their unity since the start of the social movement on January 19 despite historically differing strategies. The CFDT in particular, the main union in France, is a legalist organization and more moderate than the CGT.
Philippe Martinez did not hide it during his time on BFMTV: “On the ways of fighting, we do not agree”, adding all the same that he gets along well with his CFDT counterpart even when they disagree.
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Source: BFM TV
