The French union called a nationwide strike on Tuesday, calling for higher wages amid decades-long inflation and putting President Emmanuel Macron through one of his toughest challenges since his re-election in May.
The strike, which will mainly affect public sectors such as schools and transport, would be an extension of the weeks-long industrial action that has disrupted France’s main refineries and thrown supplies at gas stations into disarray.
Union leaders hope workers will be spurred on by the government’s decision to force some of them back to work at gas depots to try to get the fuel flowing again, a move some say jeopardizes the right to strike.
The CGT union, notably, has called for continued shutdowns in a fourth week at TotalEnergies, despite the oil company reaching a deal that includes a 7% raise and a bonus on Friday with other unions. The CGT is demanding a 10% salary increase, citing inflation and the huge profits made by the company.
As tensions mount in the euro zone’s second-largest economy amid high inflation, strikes have already spread to other parts of the energy sector, including nuclear giant EDF, where maintenance work crucial to the country’s power supply Europe will be postponed.
A representative for the FNME-CGT union told Reuters on Monday that strikes were affecting work at 10 French nuclear power plants, with further maintenance delays at 13 reactors and French energy production reduced by a total of 2. .2 gigawatts.
In public transport, major disruptions to local traffic are expected, notably on the Eurostar, trains and suburban trains, as well as the Paris Metro.
Public service workers’ unions also asked to join Tuesday’s strike, with possible disruptions to schools and other public facilities.
The strikes are taking place in a tense political context, as the French government is expected to pass the 2023 budget law using special constitutional powers that would allow it to bypass a vote in parliament, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Sunday.
Demonstrations are scheduled across the country. The Paris one is scheduled to start at 9 am (Brasilia time).
Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest against rising prices. The leader of the far-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, marched alongside this year’s Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Annie Ernaux. Melenchon called a general strike for Tuesday
Source: CNN Brasil
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