Following the success of 7 September’s general strike, trade unions in France have called for another coordinated national strike across all sectors in opposition to the pension reform proposals being rushed through Parliament by President Sarkozy’s administration.
Roland Hubert, one of SNES-FSU General Secretaries, hopes to see “mass mobilisation against a government that refuses to listen” and “proposes that at the next cross-sectoral meeting the FSU calls for a rapid follow-up to this strike to secure the withdrawal of widely unpopular proposals being considered at the moment, in favour of more progressive, and fairer, alternative reforms.”
This national demonstration is being coordinated to join others across Europe, on 29 September, when there will be a European day of demonstration during which unions will protest against recent austerity measures that have been adopted by many European governments. They will all be demanding alternative recovery measures that are aimed at investing in quality jobs and growth. The unions hope to bring together at least 2.5 million demonstrators.
On the same day, trade unions in Spain will be out on the streets in a general strike to protest against the Prime Minister Zapatero government’s labour reforms that will aid the process of dismissing employees, while forcing a draconian pension freeze on the most vulnerable people in society.