On March 10, the government mobilized article 44.3 allowing it to pass the entire pension reform instead of passing this reform article by article. Following this use, the Senate voted for the reform this Saturday, March 11. Negotiations continue in a joint committee. This commission divided into seven deputies and seven senators could possibly allow the Senate and the National Assembly to find common ground.
However, during the Franco-British summit last Friday, Emmanuel Macron said he did not rule out the use of 49.3 to push the reform through the Assembly. This use could be due to the fear of the reliability of Republican deputies.
This assertion angered the unions. Indeed, the majority of unions in different sectors have specified that there will be a hardening of the strike if this article is mobilized.
Since March 7, the sixth national day of strike since the announcement of the pension reform, the majority of unions have mobilized. According to the Ministry of the Interior, there are 1.28 million people who demonstrated throughout the territory. The CGT evokes the figure of 3.5 million demonstrators.
The strike was renewed by most of these unions, including the seven SNCF unions, but also the RATP, the refineries, and even the garbage collectors. According to the town hall of Paris, 5400 tons of waste were not collected this Sunday, March 12. Other cities were affected by this renewed strike by garbage collectors.
The garbage collectors’ unions have reaffirmed the importance of their mobilization. All unions know the consequences, but the content of the pension reform would not allow them to act otherwise. Nevertheless, the districts managed by private companies in Paris are not on strike. Three incineration plants located in the Parisian suburbs joined the movement the week of March 6.
The main unions have also announced that they will demonstrate this Thursday, March 16 in front of the National Assembly to put pressure according to information collected by Le Parisien.
What about the rest of the week? Consult our slideshow below to find out which sectors are renewing the strikes.
