Pensions: transport, fuel, garbage, schools… About violations this week

Thursday’s use of Article 49.3 to pass the pension reform revived the protest movement. Serious disruptions are expected this week for refineries, transport, education, and garbage collection. The Parisian sums up.

“Black Day” on transport this Thursday

Sud-Rail, CFDT-Cheminots, CGT Cheminots and Unsa-Ferroviaire called for “support for the strike” started on March 7th. The four unions are also calling on SNCF staff to “multiply action and unitary initiatives this weekend in all territories.” However, the traffic on Monday should be the same as this weekend, with an average of 4 TGV Inoui and Ouigo out of 5, 2 TER out of 3, and also 3 Intercités out of 5, but not at night.

As regards the Île-de-France transport this Monday, first of all RER D and line R will only be affected by 2 trains out of 5, as well as line U with 1 train out of 3. The northern part of RER B run by SNCF should also be interrupted with 1 of 2 trains.

3 out of 4 trains will run on RER E and line P, and 2 out of 3 trains will run on RER C and lines J, L and N. SNCF indicates that these interruptions should continue on Tuesday. Traffic on the RATP network should be normal. However, the Force Ouvrière is announcing a “rainy day” on the metro this Thursday.

The air traffic controllers’ strike will also disrupt air traffic, with 30% of flights canceled at Paris-Orly and 20% at Marseille on Monday, followed by 20% at two airports on Tuesday and Wednesday. “Despite these preventive measures, disruptions and delays are nevertheless to be expected,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) said in a press release. It also suggests to passengers that they can delay their trip or contact their airline to “check the status of their flight.”

Lockdown of oil refineries

The TotalEnergies refinery in Gonfreville-l’Orche (Seine-Maritime) has already been blocked since Friday evening. The Petroineos refinery at Lavere (Bouches-du-Rhone) is preparing to close on Monday afternoon. The same fate may befall the Esso-ExxonMobil refinery in Port-Jerome-Gravenchon.

“Fuel shortages will increase,” Emmanuel Lépin, general secretary of the National Federation of the Chemical Industry CGT, warned Franceinfo on Monday morning. “Today, not a single refinery produces a single product,” he notes. From this weekend, the situation at some stations is getting more and more difficult, especially in the south of France.

The movement continues among the garbage collectors

The thirteenth day of mobilization among the garbage men, since the exactions began at the end of the week. At three sites in Ile-de-France, “filter dams” have been installed to allow certain garbage collection trucks to pass. According to Liberation, this equates to about 80 vehicles a day, compared to 400 at normal times for the Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine) incinerator.

The strikers “continued to move through Tuesday” in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Val-de-Marne) and Saint-Ouen (Saint-Saint-Denis). Access to the Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne) incinerator is still blocked.

A strike in education over undergraduate major tests?

Continued mobilization in the education sector, initiated by trade unions, which are calling for a “strike of observers during the undergraduate examinations in the specialty”, which take place from Monday to Wednesday. The Ministry of National Education has already announced that it will call on “additional curators.”

Laurent Berger, general secretary of the CFDT, urged this Sunday in Liberation not to “prevent a bachelor’s degree.” Same story from the CGT side: Philippe Martinez expressed his hope that “the bachelor’s degree exams will go as well as possible.”