Voluntary power cuts are supposed to be the goal, but sometimes the CGT succeeds. This is what the CGT energy companies call “collateral damage.” On Thursday, a massive outage targeted the Stade de France and the construction site of the Olympic village in Saint-Denis (Ile-de-France).
But several nearby buildings were also affected. This is the case of a health center, deprived of light for two hours. The establishment did not have emergency solutions and some patients could not be cared for.
“We cannot attack a medical center”
“Dentists could not attend. There were patients with toothaches who had to go home”, testifies an employee of the health center. “In addition, the elevator was not working, so patients with leg pain or in wheelchairs couldn’t get up,” she explains.
Another official says he “understands the CGT’s reactions” to the pension reform “but not these reactions.” “You can’t attack a medical center,” he said.
A bakery loses 2000 euros in three hours
If there was no will to cut off electricity to this health facility, the power supply was deliberately cut off near the Stade de France and thus throughout the district. After the cuts, the energy companies knew that the users were going to be affected.
“I think there are houses around the Stade de France that unfortunately had to be cut down,” Frédéric Probel, general secretary of the CGT Energie Bagneux, told BFMTV on Thursday.
“We apologize. Don’t worry, he’ll be back in two hours and it’s for the common good,” he tried to reassure. “It’s for people to talk about us and try to send messages,” she added.
Another building, which houses the facilities of Plaine Commune Habitat, an organization that manages 20,000 social housing for precarious families, was also affected. The cut, which had not been planned by the CGT, did not have a major impact on the organization.
Those who have suffered the most from this cut are the merchants and restaurateurs. A bakery, for example, lost 2,000 euros in the space of three hours. Bad luck, the cut fell at lunchtime. The cash register was no longer working and all refrigerated items were thrown in the trash.
“Free Electricity” Operations
“There is nothing that has worked, for a restaurant it really is not cool,” says another restaurateur. “Especially because we are here to work, we are not the ones who create all these problems but we are the ones who take it. I don’t understand, ”he laments.
Another company affected: the SNCF. In Saint-Denis, even several buildings had to be evacuated at the beginning of the afternoon, according to an email sent to all collaborators that BFMTV could consult.
“The bigger the targets, the more side effects there can be,” reacted Céline Verzeletti, CGT confederal secretary this Friday on BFMTV. It’s a bit annoying since they’re not targeted, obviously now it’s not catastrophic either,” she tried to put it into perspective.
The CGT also says it also runs “free electricity” operations, particularly in hospitals in the Paris region, but they are less visible.
Source: BFM TV
