Protests against compulsory vaccination continue on Tuesday

In Guadeloupe, the unlimited general strike against the compulsory vaccination of caregivers and the health pass continues on Tuesday, in particular at the Pointe-à-Pitre University Hospital, the day after clashes between striking firefighters and gendarmes.

A demonstration gathered between 300 and 400 people on Tuesday morning in front of the hospital, in front of which a firefighters’ snail operation took place, acclaimed by the crowd of CHU strikers, noted an AFP journalist. Access to the Guadeloupe University Hospital was blocked for vehicles, but pedestrians continued to circulate.

“If we are not paid, no one will be”

“We will see at the end of the month what will happen to those suspended. If we are not paid, nobody will be ”, declared Gaby Clavier, virulent union delegate of UTS UGTG at the CHU, questioned by AFP. “I recall that those who are in office are those who are too precarious to be suspended and therefore vaccinated under duress,” said Gaby Clavier, who assures that “the mental damage of this forced injection will be catastrophic”. According to the management of the CHU, 566 suspensions were pronounced, while the rate of compliance with the vaccination obligation is 87%.

At the CHU, the picket line is held by union activists but also suspended caregivers, who are distributed service by service under dedicated barnums. “We all have reasons not to be stung,” nursing assistants in the operating room, who have been suspended for several weeks, told AFP. Among the reasons given, a “personal choice”, “things seen” impossible to tell because “relating to medical confidentiality”, “the stories of other sick caregivers who have seen the effects of the vaccine”, or the belief in “a world science experiment”. For this staff, the salary suspension “is as if we had a gun to the head”.

Firefighters and education mobilized

“The fight continues, the government hears nothing, we are cornered, so we will continue until we are heard,” said Jocelyn Zou, representative of the Force Ouvrière union among the firefighters. With his fellow firefighters, they ask for a “derogation”. “We had an exemption for chlordecone (while the pesticide was banned everywhere in France, the West Indies were able to continue using the product for a few more years), so it is possible for the vaccine obligation”, further indicated the trade unionist.

If a minimum service is ensured through assignments and requisitions, the union representative assures that “it must not work any more so that we see that there is a problem”.

A delegation of teachers received

Clashes pitted striking firefighters and gendarmes on Monday. Two firefighters were injured, according to a trade union FO representative, as well as two gendarmes, AFP learned from a gendarmerie source. The rectorate was also occupied on Tuesday by the teachers’ unions, “in support of the nursing colleagues of the national education”, who will also have to receive their vaccine to continue to exercise.

A delegation was received by the rector, we learned from a union source. “We were able to present our demands, but the rector told us very clearly that she did not have the means to rewrite a law”, but that it was “already amended”, said Jean Dernault, of the union Sneg. According to the trade unionist, the first suspensions of those affected by the compulsory vaccination in schools would take place after December 15.

Tuesday evening meeting to decide what to do next

Tuesday evening, the trade unions must meet to decide on the continuation of the mobilization. All promise an upsurge in movement, road blockages, schools, administrative premises, “at a minimum”, although for the time being, the nuisance caused remains moderate for the population.

The call for an unlimited general strike was launched by a collective of trade unions and citizens of Guadeloupe to protest against the health pass and the vaccination obligation of caregivers against Covid-19.