Paris: French trade unions launched a nationwide strike on Tuesday demanding higher wages amid decades of high inflation and what President Emmanuel Macron described as one of their toughest challenges since his re-election in May. .
The strike, which will primarily affect public sectors such as schools and transport, is an extension of a week-long industrial crackdown that has disrupted France’s major refineries and disrupted supplies to petrol stations.
Trade union leaders are hoping the workers will be excited by the government’s decision to force some people to go back to work at petrol depots and get the fuel flowing again, a move that could lead to a strike after the strike. jeopardizes the right.
French government spokesman Olivier Veran said there could be more demand for employees during the day, as drivers queue in front of petrol stations.
“There will be as many demands as is deemed necessary … Blocking refineries, when we have reached an agreement on wages, is not a normal situation,” Veran said.
The left-wing CGT union has called for a fourth week of continued walkout at TotalEnergies, despite the oil company reaching a deal including 7% growth and a bonus on Friday with other, more moderate, unions. CGT is demanding a 10% wage hike, citing inflation and huge profits of the firm.
Eurostar said it was canceling some trains between London and Paris because of the strike.
French public railway operator SNCF said traffic on local connections was down 50%, but there were no major disruptions on national lines.
As tensions rise in the euro area’s second-largest economy, attacks have already taken place in other parts of the energy sector, including nuclear giant EDF, where critical maintenance work for Europe’s electricity supply will be delayed.
A representative of the FNME-CGT union said on Monday that the strike is affecting work at 10 French nuclear power plants, delaying further maintenance at 13 reactors and cutting French electricity production by a total of 2.2 gigawatts.
Civil service workers’ unions have also called for joining Tuesday’s strike, with possible disruption to schools and other public facilities.
Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne said on Sunday that the attacks were taking place in a tense political context as the French government prepares to use special constitutional powers to pass a 2023 budget that would allow it to bypass a vote in parliament.
Demonstrations are scheduled across the country, with one in Paris starting at 1200 GMT.
Thousands took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest the rising prices. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the hard-left party La France Insoume (France Unboed), marched with Anne Arnoux, the Nobel Prize winner for literature this year. Melanchon called for a general strike on Tuesday.