The interprofessional strike this Tuesday in France, which affects various sectors, aims to put pressure on companies and the Government. It pursues labor and political purposes.
The stoppages that have paralyzed the TotalEnergies refineries for weeks continue. The railways, public transport in Paris, road transport, professional institutes, health personnel and garbage dumps in several cities have been partially added. However, the impact on the private sector is expected to be very limited, as many employees will resort to telecommuting.
The main one is a salary increase that compensates for the strong inflation of recent months. Respect for the right to strike is also demanded, which the unions consider threatened by measures such as those adapted by the Government these days to force employees of strategic facilities such as refineries to work, by legal means, and alleviate shortages at gas stations.
The most combative and left-wing unions, such as the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Fuerza Obrera (FO), United Trade Union Federation (FSU) and others. French unions have lost many members in recent decades but they maintain the capacity to mobilize and can paralyze or disrupt sectors and activities that have a great social and media impact.
The strike takes place in full debate in the National Assembly of the 2023 budget. The Government, which does not have a majority, must apply article 49-3 of the Constitution to carry out the budget by decree. A modification of the unemployment insurance is also processed that will harden the conditions to collect.
The government and President Emmanuel Macron may be further weakened than they are. The success of the strike and its possible continuation in some sectors will be an additional destabilizing factor. These are difficult circumstances in the face of the great pending reform of the pension system. In fact, the strike is already part of the union pressure to derail this project, which aims to raise the retirement age. The danger for Macron is that the protests turn into a prolonged social uprising, with a major problem of public order, as happened with the yellow vest movement four years ago.
The French population is very used to strikes and usually accepts with resignation the inconvenience they entail. Polls reveal that a substantial part sympathizes with the strikers. But sometimes, as is happening now with refineries and the lack of gasoline, exasperation grows over the loss of time and money caused by fuel supply difficulties. There are very tangible economic damages for diverse sectors, from farmers who do not have diesel for their tractors to hoteliers who lose customers who are afraid to travel by car. Incidents and fights have occurred at gas stations.
