Major disruptions ahead – new French pension reform strikes
Mass street protest against french president Emmanuel Macron’s overhaul of labour laws – Civil servant's strike and demo in Paris. Source: Jeanne Menjoulet / Wikimedia Commons 2017
6 March 2023
The Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) is organising a statewide strike on 7 and 8 March 2023, to protest the French government's proposed pension reform. The statewide strike is expected to cause significant disruptions, particularly for logistics companies.
By Marius Merz, LandRisk Junior analyst
Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), one of the biggest French labour unions that is represented in all major sectors of France’s economy, is in their final stage of mobilising workers in their efforts to counter the French government’s recently proposed pensions reform. To achieve their objective, five fractions of the CGT met on 02 March 2023 in their headquarters in Paris to discuss their planned strike action next week. The union intends to “bring France to a standstill”, by uniting their members in various sectors of the French economy in a nationwide strike on 07 and 08 March 2023.
Key sectors in the French economy are expected to be affected by the nationwide strike. The railways, docks and ports and energy industries are planned to be the most disrupted, whilst chemical industries and glasses and ceramics groups have also announced their support. Airports are also likely to be affected, as ground workers announced to suspend their work in solidarity of the strike.
The nationwide strike will likely cause major disruptions on the given dates, particularly affecting the daily operations of logistic companies. Ports and docks unionised workers have already started implementing disruptive measures, as they stopped working overtime to disorganise production. According to Tony Hautbois, the Secretary of the CGT ports and docks section, more significant disruptions will take place on 07 and 08 March, as he claimed that more than 90% of all port activity will be suspended. He described the second day of the strike (08 March) as a "dead ports day," meaning that all access to ports will be restricted to obstruct any port activity. Whilst it remains uncertain which exact ports will be affected, the port of Le Havre and the port of Calais have already issued a disruption warning for next week. Whilst road transport and logistic unions have also called for workers to join the strike, their participation has not yet been confirmed. However, road transportation may still be affected, since truck drivers could well be compelled to cease working if they are denied entry to ports or run out of fuel as a result of fuel refinery strikes.
It remains difficult to predict whether the strike action will be limited to 07 and 08 March 2023. The unions announced to follow a “renewable” strike action plan, which means that demonstrators will meet every evening on the given dates to discuss a possible continuation of their protest. The results of these gatherings should be expected to be made public shortly after. Keep up to date with the latest developments with LandRisk Logistics.
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