Pensions: transport, fuel, garbage… crash news this weekend

Mobilization continues unabated this weekend as the government decides to enlist 49.3 voters to pass pension reform due to lack of absolute majority guarantees. Crashes are still expected this weekend. Disrupted traffic, blocked refineries, blockades on the roads… The riot clause is scheduled for this weekend, and the unions are planning “local local rallies” this Saturday and Sunday to continue the dispute.

Transport still not working

Interruptions should be noted on some lines, as SNCF recalls: “Train traffic continues to improve this weekend, but it will remain disrupted. SNCF Voyageurs counts on 4 Inoui and 5 Ouigo. TER trains will continue to be affected by the nationwide strike. Count an average of 3 out of 5 trains. Likewise, the Intercités movement continues to be disrupted by strikes. This weekend SNCF plans an average of 3 out of 5 trains. Some night trains will not run.

Help for Parisian transport: RATP plans normal metro, bus and tram traffic for this Saturday. If traffic is “almost normal” on RER A, it is “broken” on RER B, according to the Régie des Transports.

Refineries are still blocked

About 37% of operations personnel at TotalEnergies’ refineries and warehouses in France are on strike this Saturday morning, a spokesman for the oil group told Reuters. Task: to dry the service station. In Gonfreville-l’Orche (Seine-Maritime), strikers are threatening to block an oil refinery, says Eric Sellini, CGT coordinator. “The main units will start shutting down from tomorrow (Saturday)” and “usually the refinery will shut down this weekend or Monday at the latest,” he warned.

Near Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhone), the Petroineos refinery, where operations resumed on Thursday, is facing a full shutdown “no later than Monday afternoon,” according to CGT delegate Sébastien Varagnoles. “This weekend, we are preparing for a complete shutdown of installations, which will take place no later than Monday afternoon.”

So far, the strikers have been content with blocking fuel supplies, but factories have continued to produce. The refineries of Donges (Loire-Atlantique), La Mède (Bouches-du-Rhône) and Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône) are still on strike.

Electricians and gas workers continue to strike

At Friday’s meeting, CGT’s energy unions decided to “strengthen everywhere” next week’s movement and call for “a resumption of the strike and maximum disruption,” according to Fabrice Coudour, CGT Energy’s federal secretary. There will always be production cuts, targeted cuts and free action.

Movement has also picked up slightly in the gas sector, with eleven underground gas storage facilities in Storengy, the largest of which in Chemery (Loir-et-Cher), suspended for strikers with no repercussions for customers, according to the management. Three LNG terminals of Elengy, another Engie subsidiary, are still on strike, management says, unlike the Dunkirk terminal, which is operated by Belgian Fluxys.

On the electricity side, production cuts continued on Friday (6,260 MW as of 16:00 according to EDF), which did not affect consumers, but affected EDF’s finances.

Garbage still piling up in Paris

According to the Paris City Hall, 10,000 tons of rubbish still accumulate on the sidewalks. A requisitioning order from garbage collectors was signed at Paris police headquarters to allow garbage collection, but according to the mayor’s office, “not a single trash can was removed” in areas where garbage collection is usually carried out by municipal agents.

According to the CGT, on Friday 95% of the workers of the Ivry treatment center and 100% of the drivers of two garages went on strike. As for the garbage collectors, the union source did not report the number of strikers.

Several demos this Saturday

Several events are organized this weekend in several French cities, Ouest-France details: at 14:00 in Nantes (Loire Atlantic), at the same time in front of the Calvados prefecture, in Caen or even in front of the Sarthe prefecture, in Le Mans.