'We don't have a choice': French unions explain why they've brought France to a halt
With much of France at a standstill on a second day of a nationwide strike against pension reforms four of the country's biggest unions tell The Local why their cause justifies the huge level of disruption.
French unions began a mass general strike across France on December 5th that saw railway workers, Metro and bus drivers, hauliers, teachers, airline ground crew, air traffic controllers and postal workers all join the mass walk-out.
Their goal is to force the government to drop a controversial new pension reform that they believe will leave many people having to work longer for lower monthly pensions.
The strike entered its second day on Friday with unions warning they are prepared to continue their fight until Christmas if the government does not respond to their concerns.
Those worries centre around changes to France's complicated pension system.
Currently, there are 42 different systems, so the age you can retire and the level of pension you get depends on where you work.
For example SNCF train drivers and Metro drivers can retire at 50 and 52 respectively, with the average employee of RATP (which runs the Paris public transport network) getting a monthly pension of €3,705.
In comparison, anyone who doesn't enjoy a 'special regime' for pensions - generally people who work in the private sector - can retire at 62 - the legal age of retirement in France and get an average pension of between €1,260 and €1,460 a month.
The difference is mostly due to how pensions are calculated. For the majority of people in the private sector their pension is calculated based on their salary over 25 years, but some special regimes calculate pensions based just on the salary of the employee during their final six months of work.
The reform that French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed creates one universal system so everyone's pension is calculated in the same way, taking into account the employee's whole career and introducing a points based system for pensions and potential early retirements.
Unions say this will penalise people who have been through a period of unemployment, taken a career break or started on a very low salary.
French President Emmanuel Macron referred to the strikers as “dominated by employees of big transport businesses” with “categorical demands that would penalise the society at large.”
Unsurprisingly, the unions do not agree with him.
Before the strikes began we asked some of France's biggest unions to justify bringing France to a halt.
READ ALSO: Flights, trains and buses - your questions answered about France's December strikes
Strikes against pension reform in 1995 caused huge disruption for three weeks until the government backed down. Photo: AFP
CGT - Confédération Générale du Travail
“Striking the only means to obtain social progress in this country,” said Benjamin Amar, political spokesman for the CGT.
“You have to use le bras de fer (strong-arming, further explained here).”
The CGT was the leading trade union during the 1995 strikes, when Jacques Chirac's government tried to push through another unpopular pension reform. After three weeks, the government abandoned the reform.
The current reform, Amar said, would have “catastrophic social consequences” for French workers.
“Macron is the president of the patronat (the employers). The reform is a gift in disguise to them,” he said.
“Believe me, we would prefer to sit down around a table if we could.
"No one likes striking. It’s tough on our wallets, our physical and mental health. But we need to mobilise to defend our rights.”
“British workers know what we’re talking about. [Former British Prime Minister Margaret] Thatcher broke down the unions, and who is defending their rights now? No one.”
So how long is the CGT prepared to keep the strong-arming going?
“We’re not talking numbers. This is not math, it’s a deep-set anger. Our workers are angry,” he said, adding: “And I prefer that they express their anger together with us rather than through the far-right, like in other countries.”
READ ALSO France's December strike: Expect major disruption that could last until New Year
CGT members in Paris went on strike in September to protest the government's pension reform. PHOTO: AFP
FO - Force Ouvrière (Worker’s Force)
FO was created in 1948, following an internal split in the CGT. Historically the FO members have been skeptical of the Communist Party’s influence on the CGT. FO is today France’s third largest union, behind CGT and CFDT.
“This is not just about defending the special regimes,” said FO's General Secretary Yves Veyrier.
"We talk a lot about the rail workers, but in reality the reform will negatively impact the French population as a whole."
Veyrier is referring to that the reform will change the way pensions are calculated for everyone, both public and private sector workers.
“We have been telling the government this for two years now, but no one is listening,” Veyrier said.
But does this justify paralysing the whole country?
"We don't have a choice. It's not like we enjoy striking," he said.
A lot of the workers worry about losing their salaries, Veyrier said, which could impact how long they can keep the strike going.
“But we won’t go home on December 5th saying ‘well that was a good strike, shame we didn't achieve anything'," he said.
"In that case we'll be back at it on the 6th.”
READ ALSO OPINION Why pension reform always spells trouble in France
"Keep the 42 regimes," reads the banner held high by FO protesters walking through Marseille in October. PHOTO: AFP
UNSA - Union nationale des syndicats autonomes
"I’m afraid this is the only option we have,” said Dominique Corona, chief pension negotiator for UNSA, the umbrella union representing both public and private unions.
Among UNSA's members is one of the country's largest teachers’ unions, and a union representing parts of the RATP transport system (UNSA-RATP).
“The government keeps saying they don’t want teachers to lose money, but they don’t say how they will prevent it,” Corona said.
In an echo of FO's Veyrier, Corona said the government is claiming to be looking for solutions, but isn’t coming up with anything substantial.
“This strike is not about punishing the government, it's about finding solutions to improve the way France works.”
But is paralysing the whole country really the right strategy for achieving this?
“This is France," Corona said.
"I would much rather live in a country where we didn’t have to pull a strike to get answers from the government."
“It’s not us who don’t want to cooperate. It’s him [President Emmanuel Macron] who doesn’t want to cooperate with us,"
So how long are they prepared to keep the strike going?
"The 6th, 7th, 8th.. This could go on for a very long time," Corona said.
"Unless of course the government comes up with something before then. In that case, we won't strike."
READ ALSO: French teachers to join transport workers in December strikes
Doctors, lawyers, pilots and nurses protested the proposed pension reform in September in Paris. PHOTO: AFP
SNUipp-FSU - National Teachers' Union
Joining in on the strike is also France's largest teacher's union.
“This not something we do for fun. We would much rather be in class,” said Francette Popineau, Co-General Secretary and spokesperson of the union.
Referring to the reform as “monstrous” Popineau said she feared it would push French teachers into poverty.
She sees the President as detached from the French population “I don’t think he understands,” she said.
“He’s never been elected before, never been mayor. He didn’t have to look the people he ruled over in the eye at the bakery every morning.”
But, again, is that good enough reason to disrupt the whole country?
"The problem in France is that our system is completely vertical. All decisions come from above," Popineau said.
"Striking is a right we use when there isn't any dialogue. It's a last resort."
The teachers' union is undecided as to whether or not they will continue the strike after December 5th.
“Obviously it’s a complicated situation for us seeing as we are responsible for the children," Popineau said, adding that she hopes the government will come up with a solution on the 5th.
"But we are ready to stay on the streets if necessary,” she said.
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French unions began a mass general strike across France on December 5th that saw railway workers, Metro and bus drivers, hauliers, teachers, airline ground crew, air traffic controllers and postal workers all join the mass walk-out.
Their goal is to force the government to drop a controversial new pension reform that they believe will leave many people having to work longer for lower monthly pensions.
The strike entered its second day on Friday with unions warning they are prepared to continue their fight until Christmas if the government does not respond to their concerns.
Those worries centre around changes to France's complicated pension system.
Currently, there are 42 different systems, so the age you can retire and the level of pension you get depends on where you work.
For example SNCF train drivers and Metro drivers can retire at 50 and 52 respectively, with the average employee of RATP (which runs the Paris public transport network) getting a monthly pension of €3,705.
In comparison, anyone who doesn't enjoy a 'special regime' for pensions - generally people who work in the private sector - can retire at 62 - the legal age of retirement in France and get an average pension of between €1,260 and €1,460 a month.
The difference is mostly due to how pensions are calculated. For the majority of people in the private sector their pension is calculated based on their salary over 25 years, but some special regimes calculate pensions based just on the salary of the employee during their final six months of work.
The reform that French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed creates one universal system so everyone's pension is calculated in the same way, taking into account the employee's whole career and introducing a points based system for pensions and potential early retirements.
Unions say this will penalise people who have been through a period of unemployment, taken a career break or started on a very low salary.
French President Emmanuel Macron referred to the strikers as “dominated by employees of big transport businesses” with “categorical demands that would penalise the society at large.”
Unsurprisingly, the unions do not agree with him.
Before the strikes began we asked some of France's biggest unions to justify bringing France to a halt.
READ ALSO: Flights, trains and buses - your questions answered about France's December strikes
Strikes against pension reform in 1995 caused huge disruption for three weeks until the government backed down. Photo: AFP
CGT - Confédération Générale du Travail
“Striking the only means to obtain social progress in this country,” said Benjamin Amar, political spokesman for the CGT.
“You have to use le bras de fer (strong-arming, further explained here).”
The CGT was the leading trade union during the 1995 strikes, when Jacques Chirac's government tried to push through another unpopular pension reform. After three weeks, the government abandoned the reform.
The current reform, Amar said, would have “catastrophic social consequences” for French workers.
“Macron is the president of the patronat (the employers). The reform is a gift in disguise to them,” he said.
“Believe me, we would prefer to sit down around a table if we could.
"No one likes striking. It’s tough on our wallets, our physical and mental health. But we need to mobilise to defend our rights.”
“British workers know what we’re talking about. [Former British Prime Minister Margaret] Thatcher broke down the unions, and who is defending their rights now? No one.”
So how long is the CGT prepared to keep the strong-arming going?
“We’re not talking numbers. This is not math, it’s a deep-set anger. Our workers are angry,” he said, adding: “And I prefer that they express their anger together with us rather than through the far-right, like in other countries.”
READ ALSO France's December strike: Expect major disruption that could last until New Year
CGT members in Paris went on strike in September to protest the government's pension reform. PHOTO: AFP
FO - Force Ouvrière (Worker’s Force)
FO was created in 1948, following an internal split in the CGT. Historically the FO members have been skeptical of the Communist Party’s influence on the CGT. FO is today France’s third largest union, behind CGT and CFDT.
“This is not just about defending the special regimes,” said FO's General Secretary Yves Veyrier.
"We talk a lot about the rail workers, but in reality the reform will negatively impact the French population as a whole."
Veyrier is referring to that the reform will change the way pensions are calculated for everyone, both public and private sector workers.
“We have been telling the government this for two years now, but no one is listening,” Veyrier said.
But does this justify paralysing the whole country?
"We don't have a choice. It's not like we enjoy striking," he said.
A lot of the workers worry about losing their salaries, Veyrier said, which could impact how long they can keep the strike going.
“But we won’t go home on December 5th saying ‘well that was a good strike, shame we didn't achieve anything'," he said.
"In that case we'll be back at it on the 6th.”
READ ALSO OPINION Why pension reform always spells trouble in France
"Keep the 42 regimes," reads the banner held high by FO protesters walking through Marseille in October. PHOTO: AFP
UNSA - Union nationale des syndicats autonomes
"I’m afraid this is the only option we have,” said Dominique Corona, chief pension negotiator for UNSA, the umbrella union representing both public and private unions.
Among UNSA's members is one of the country's largest teachers’ unions, and a union representing parts of the RATP transport system (UNSA-RATP).
“The government keeps saying they don’t want teachers to lose money, but they don’t say how they will prevent it,” Corona said.
In an echo of FO's Veyrier, Corona said the government is claiming to be looking for solutions, but isn’t coming up with anything substantial.
“This strike is not about punishing the government, it's about finding solutions to improve the way France works.”
But is paralysing the whole country really the right strategy for achieving this?
“This is France," Corona said.
"I would much rather live in a country where we didn’t have to pull a strike to get answers from the government."
“It’s not us who don’t want to cooperate. It’s him [President Emmanuel Macron] who doesn’t want to cooperate with us,"
So how long are they prepared to keep the strike going?
"The 6th, 7th, 8th.. This could go on for a very long time," Corona said.
"Unless of course the government comes up with something before then. In that case, we won't strike."
READ ALSO: French teachers to join transport workers in December strikes
Doctors, lawyers, pilots and nurses protested the proposed pension reform in September in Paris. PHOTO: AFP
SNUipp-FSU - National Teachers' Union
Joining in on the strike is also France's largest teacher's union.
“This not something we do for fun. We would much rather be in class,” said Francette Popineau, Co-General Secretary and spokesperson of the union.
Referring to the reform as “monstrous” Popineau said she feared it would push French teachers into poverty.
She sees the President as detached from the French population “I don’t think he understands,” she said.
“He’s never been elected before, never been mayor. He didn’t have to look the people he ruled over in the eye at the bakery every morning.”
But, again, is that good enough reason to disrupt the whole country?
"The problem in France is that our system is completely vertical. All decisions come from above," Popineau said.
"Striking is a right we use when there isn't any dialogue. It's a last resort."
The teachers' union is undecided as to whether or not they will continue the strike after December 5th.
“Obviously it’s a complicated situation for us seeing as we are responsible for the children," Popineau said, adding that she hopes the government will come up with a solution on the 5th.
"But we are ready to stay on the streets if necessary,” she said.
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