Posted Apr 13, 2023, 6:49 AMUpdated on Apr 13, 2023, 3:10 PM
This is the twelfth meeting of opponents of pension reform. At the call of the inter-union, the latter meet this Thursday in the street to maintain pressure on the government.
This new day of mobilizations and strikes comes on the eve of the publication of the verdict of the Constitutional Council. Will the Sages censor the whole reform? Or only a part? Will they give their green light to the procedure of a referendum of shared initiative (RIP)? So many questions whose answers will decide the rest of the movement, warn the unions.
Information to remember:
> This is the twelfth day of mobilization pending the decision of the Constitutional Council
> The Paris procession will parade from 2 p.m.
> Disruptions should be less significant in transport
“Follow live this day of mobilization of Thursday, April 13
1:39 p.m. – “The union fight is far from over”, according to Laurent Berger (CFDT)
“Contrary to what the government hopes, the movement is not over”, assured the number one of the CGT Sophie Binet, reaffirming, shortly before the departure of the Parisian procession, that the president “cannot govern the country. as long as he does not withdraw this reform”. The secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger projected himself this Thursday towards “major popular demonstrations on May 1”.
12:59 p.m. – Strikers invade the headquarters of LVMH in Paris for a few minutes
Railway workers and workers in health, education and other sectors on strike against the pension reform briefly invaded the Parisian headquarters of the luxury giant LVMH (owner of “Echos”) on Thursday with smoke bombs and a whistle, a observed an AFP journalist. Starting from an interprofessional general meeting at Gare de Lyon, more than 400 strikers took the metro for this surprise action, at the prestigious address of 22 avenue Montaigne, near the Champs Elysées.
12:23 p.m. – Limited disruptions in refineries
Employees of French refineries mobilized this Thursday for the 12th national day of action against pension reform, without however massively disrupting the activity of the sites, AFP learned from concordant sources. At TotalEnergies, of the 299 operators posted to the group’s four refineries for the first quarter this morning, around 20% were on strike, the company said.
11:32 a.m. – Around 5% of strikers in National Education
Some 5% of national education staff are on strike in the academies which are not on vacation, the education ministry said. For teachers alone, the ministry has identified 4.13% of strikers in the first degree (nursery and elementary schools) and 5.19% in secondary (middle and high schools). All levels combined, they were 8% on the last day of mobilization.
The unions for their part did not give an estimate of strikers, due to school holidays in zone A (academies of Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon and Poitiers), which make the figures difficult to compare according to them.
10:39 a.m. – The first processions set off
The first demonstrations of the day have begun. This is the case in Laval (Mayenne), Le Mans, Nantes, but also in Toulouse, Saint-Nazaire, or even in Boulogne-sur-Mer. The departure of the Parisian procession is scheduled for 2 p.m. from the Place de l’Opéra.
Start of the Toulouse event.Lionel BONAVENTURE/AFP
10:28 a.m. – Towards a ban on demonstrations around the Constitutional Council
On the eve of the institution’s decision on the text of the pension reform, Gérald Darmanin asked the Paris police headquarters to ban demonstrations around the Constitutional Council.
The decree must be put online “at the beginning of the afternoon” and come into force from “Thursday evening” to end “Saturday at 4 am”.
10:24 a.m. – The TotalEnergies refinery in Donges resumes strike action
85% of the operating staff of the Donges refinery, in Loire Atlantique, voted to resume the strike, relays West France . They had voted to resume work last Friday, while filing a new notice for April 13 and 14.
The entrance to the Feyzin refinery, near Lyon, was also blocked for two hours in the morning. A filter dam has been set up at the Gravelines nuclear power plant.
10:12 a.m. – Four deputies leave the Renaissance group
According to a publication in Official newspaper , Mireille Clapot, Stella Dupont, Barbara Pompili and Cécile Rilhac left the Renaissance group at the National Assembly, but remained related there. During the examination of the text in Parliament, Barbara Pompili had expressed her reservations with regard to the pension reform and threatened not to vote on it. “It gives us more latitude to express our nuances,” explained Mireille Clapot.
The four deputies are listed at En Commun, which carries a “political project of ecological, social, democratic and united transformation”. They do not have their Renaissance party card, which does not allow dual membership. The Renaissance group in the Assembly has 170 deputies, including 9 now related.
9:53 a.m. – It is “certainly not the last day of the strike”, says Sophie Binet
The general secretary of the CGT went to Ivry-sur-Seine (94) to support the strikers who are blocking the waste incinerator. “As long as this reform is not withdrawn, the mobilization will continue in one way or another,” she assured.
Sophie Binet also responded to Emmanuel Macron, who invites union officials to “exchange” after the decision of the Constitutional Council, recalling his desire to “clarify the agenda for this dialogue. » « The off-topic, that does not interest us. Thinking about talking about a subject other than reform is irrelevant, ”she added.
8:45 a.m. – There is no democratic crisis in France, says Gérard Larcher
Guest of BFMTV, the President of the Senate stood out from Laurent Berger, the number one of the CFDT who regularly repeats that France is in “a serious democratic crisis”. This is not the case, according to Gérard Larcher: “our institutions work and we must also respect them”.
However, he repeated to the attention of the executive, “there is a problem of method on social dialogue (…) trust today is not there […] we must rediscover the paths of dialogue”.
8:40 a.m. – How bank branches try to avoid being targets for thugs
Bank branches were vandalized by thugs on the sidelines of the mobilizations against the pension reform. Several bosses have recently spoken on social networks to denounce these acts of violence.
“The priority for all establishments remains the safety of employees and customers, indicates to “Echos” the French Banking Federation (FBF). »
7:55 a.m. – For Sandrine Rousseau, the meeting proposed by Emmanuel Macron is useless
Guest of RTL, MP EELV, member of Nupes, tackled the President of the Republic who said he wanted to “discuss” with the unions, after the decision of the Constitutional Council: “What is the point of receiving them afterwards? He wants to create a diversion and say we move on.
In addition, she called on the Constitutional Council to take “a historic decision” this Friday. “There is something historic in the face of the contempt and brutality of the power which locks itself up in the Elysée, which despises the unions”, she explained, expressing her doubt as to the real autonomy of the Elders.
7:45 a.m. – More than 500 police officers injured, according to the Prefect of Paris
There have been 568 police officers injured since the beginning of the demonstrations, underlined Laurent Nunez at the microphone of RMC. On the other hand, he did not confirm the figures put forward by Le Figaro according to which 11,500 police and gendarmes, including 4,200 in the capital, will be deployed against the thugs. “I’m not going to comment on the intelligence notes that are circulating. Since the start of the movement, we have had between 30,000 and 100,000 people. So we expect a participation of tens of thousands of people,” he said.
However, he specified that the Constitutional Council and certain businesses (banks, fast food) will be subject to a special police presence. This Thursday morning, the building of the Constitutional Council was also blocked by garbage cans.
7:35 a.m. – Garbage collectors’ strike: the Aubervilliers waste collection site blocked
The strikers are mobilized this Thursday morning on the Aubervilliers waste collection site (Seine-Saint-Denis). Waste collection trucks cannot leave the site, blocked by strikers.
7:20 a.m. – Students call for wild protest on April 14
Several students gathered at Paris 3 at the start of the week, after blocking it as certain exams approached. They voted, “in general assembly” the principle of a demonstration which will take place “after that of the 13th”, organized by the unions.
6:50 a.m. – DECRYPTION – Waiting for the ax of the Constitutional Council
While waiting for Friday, speculation is rife about what the Elders will say about the text of the pension reform and the request for a shared initiative referendum. Three scenarios emerge with very uncertain consequences for the executive, as well as for the opponents of the reform. To know more :
6:45 a.m. – Between 400,000 and 600,000 demonstrators expected
According to an information note, some 270 actions are planned throughout France. Between 400,000 and 600,000 people are expected to take part. In Paris, between 40,000 and 70,000 demonstrators are expected. The procession will leave at 2 p.m. from the Place de l’Opéra to reach the Place de la Bastille.
“People will be able to demonstrate without fear”, assured the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, Wednesday, at the microphone of France Bleu.
Pension reform ➡ “Tomorrow, in Bordeaux as everywhere in France, people will be able to demonstrate without fear, being positively supervised by the police and the gendarmerie”, says Gérald Darmanin on France Bleu Gironde pic.twitter.com/vDgLlwxSJa
– France Blue Gironde (@Bleu_Gironde) April 12, 2023
6:40 a.m. – Less disrupted rail traffic
Train traffic will again be disrupted, but to a lesser extent than last Thursday, SNCF said. For its part, the RATP specified that metro and RER traffic in the Paris region should be “almost normal”. In the sky, the cancellation of around 20% of flights has been requested from airlines by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) at certain airports.
6:35 a.m. – The main news of the day before
> Marine Le Pen, the president of the far-right group in the Assembly, said Wednesday on BFMTV and RMC to have “voted all the motions of rejection, tabled a referendum motion, fought in the hemicycle, and having presented and voted on the motions of censure”. “We have done everything in our power to fight against this reform,” she said.
> The government spokesman, Olivier Véran, said he was confident before the verdict of the Constitutional Council. “Friday will be the culmination of the democratic path,” he said on the set of the 4 Truths of France 2.
> Some demonstrators did not wait for Thursday to mobilize. In Nantes, for example, several kilometers of traffic jams slowed down traffic on the ring road on Wednesday due to blocking actions. The CFDT Alsace has, for its part, started blocking an Auchan refrigerated platform supplying supermarkets in the east of France with fresh products.
6:30 a.m. – Welcome
Hello everyone and welcome to our live dedicated to this new day of strikes and demonstrations against the pension reform. The national protest movement, which had started very strongly with more than a million demonstrators on January 19, is showing signs of running out of steam. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 570,000 people marched in France on April 6. For this twelfth day of mobilization, the inter-union hopes for a jump.
