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Several major French unions on Tuesday called for a general strike in the utilities sectors.
More than 100 events were held across the country in favor of better pay, improved purchasing power, protection of retirement, equal pay gender and a more equitable education system.
Trade unions, students, political parties expected
The CGT, Force Ouvrière, Solidaires and student badociations Unef and UNL hope that their event will put additional pressure on President Emmanuel Macron, who should present proposals in response to the Yellow Vest crisis in the coming weeks.
The French Communist Party also said that it would participate in the action of today.
National education, transportation and garbage collection should be affected by the strike.
Four out of ten primary school teachers are expected to be absent to protest recent education policies.
They fear that there is not enough staff to deal with the government directive that states that children must be in school at the age of three years.
In Paris, protesters will walk from the Boulevard Saint-Michel to the Champ-de-Mars from 13h GMT, with Philippe Martinez at the head of the CGT and Yves Veyrier, Secretary of the Force Ouvrière (FO).
"There have been positive returns, some of the groups that do not easily protest join us this time," Veyrier told the Reuters news agency.
Essential questions eclipsed
The OP regrets, however, that the largest union, the CFDT, decided not to participate in the strike. Its leader, Laurent Berger, told France Culture radio that "we (the union) do not really know what their main motivation is".
This is the first interprofessional strike since October 9 and should have a higher participation rate than the previous demonstration organized by the CGT on February 5, where 137,200 people took part, according to the Ministry of the interior.
On this occasion, they were joined by protesters wearing a yellow jacket, finding common ground on some issues. Despite this, the CGT and the OP have chosen to boycott the great national debate organized by President Emmanuel Macron.
The CGT and the OP have the feeling of being left out, eclipsed by the demands of the yellow vest and the violent scenes during the demonstrations.
The CGT has said it wants to put the debate "backwards", that is to say an action inside the companies as in the street.
For Yves Veyrier, interviewed by the French service of RFI, "violence is a weakness, we want to protest calmly."
"Trade unions can not remain silent as spectators, in the current context …"
"It's time to force employers to sit down at the table," he insists.
"We were welcomed by the Elysées (palaces) on December 10 … but the answers given did not deal with essential issues such as wages," he concluded.
The government is expected to present its proposals in mid-April, on the basis of the conclusions of the major national debate that ended on 15 March.
— with the wires
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