Congresses and union meetings are linked in this return. The secretary general and the confederal secretaries are called upon to take part. This is an opportunity to pass the message on: Visiting Marseille to members of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, the secretary of the FO union confirmed the call to demonstrate and to strike on October 5
, headlined the local daily Provence September 13 ; FO in working order
, said the previous week The Republican Echo, on the occasion of the congress of FO unions in the department of Eure-et-Loir on 10 September ; in Troyes, on September 17, the congress concluded with a vibrant call for mobilization for the strike and the demonstrations scheduled for October 5
, resumed this time The Lightning East ; the newspaper South West announced the September 24 meeting in Mont-de-Marsan, in the Landes, scheduled as part of the mobilization for the national strike of October 5
… same thing in Cherbourg during the UD de la Manche congress, in Niort, in Deux-Sèvres, for a back-to-school meeting, in Yvetot in Seine-Maritime and Poissy in Yvelines, again for the congresses of unions at departmental level, in Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales and in Gap in the Hautes-Alpes. Not to mention the meetings and general assemblies that can be organized at the initiative of unions and federations, such as September 21 during the national meeting of USM (Unions of Metallurgy Unions).
We had to explain, in particular to journalists: no, this is not the day of the social return ritual demonstration. This is not the practice of OF. It’s about giving a warning signal, loud and clear !
Once again because we are determined against the return, in one form or another, of a pension reform which everyone has now understood that it is a question of leading to delaying the retirement age, already well too far away, especially for young people, women of current and future generations. Because we are resolutely opposed to the reform of unemployment insurance. Because we have to stand up for public service !
To give a loud signal on October 5th
And today there is an emergency on wages and pensions ! Because the subject has become central, we are turning to the government as much as to the employers. When we met the Prime Minister on 1is September, we invited him to take the lead on an increase in the minimum wage because the benchmark was approaching the 2 %, automatically triggering its revaluation. He did not do it, he stuck to the regulatory increase, which is only the catching up of the inflation suffered by minimum wage earners. However, it is in the weeks and months to come, this winter, that the cost of energy and the increase in food prices will hit the wallet. The energy check for the most disadvantaged will not be enough. As for employers, we know that if we do not speak up, wage negotiations are more difficult in branches and companies. This also applies when the state is the employer for civil servants.
Raising wages and pensions is more broadly a question of social justice. It is as much less that will evaporate in financial speculation, dividends paid to shareholders. It is also essential to ensure the financing of Social Security – health, pensions, unemployment insurance !
So let’s go, and it will continue, around October 5th !
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