PEACE IS UNION WORK! SAY NO TO NATO!

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On Tuesday, October 1, more than 170,000 people marched in 190 towns and cities across France, in response to calls from the CGT, FSU, Solidaires and youth organizations, to demand wage and pension increases, abandonment of unemployment insurance reform, repeal of pension reform and funding for our public services.

 Numerous walkouts took place in care homes, hospitals, services and industry, as at Vencorex (Isère), and thousands of schools saw their operations disrupted by the strike. In response to a call from FERPA, pensioners were largely mobilized.
Government and employers forced to take initial steps backwards
The mobilization forced the Prime Minister to acknowledge the failure of Emmanuel Macron's economic, social and environmental policies, and to announce :
a 2% increase in the minimum wage (Smic) on November 1, and a review of part of the social security contribution exemptions, recognizing that they represent low-wage traps. The CGT is calling fora further increase in the minimum wage in January, followed by a rise in the index point in the civil service and anincrease in all private-sectorwages;
the burial of the violent unemployment insurance reform and the relaunch of negotiations. This is a major inter-union victory that will prevent 1 million jobless people from falling into extreme precariousness;
the abandonment of the constitutional reform project for New Caledonia, at a time when the President of the Republic's relentlessness has ruined the territory's economy and caused 13 deaths.
The Prime Minister has also given his Minister of the Interior a welcome refocusing, reiterating his commitment to the rule of law and his intransigence in the face of racism and anti-Semitism. This must now be translated into concrete action to drive back the Extreme Right and its ideas.
A change in democratic methods, starting with pensions
The Prime Minister has announced his desire to give the reins back to parliament, to social players and to citizens. He must therefore commit to respecting the vote of MPs, a majority of whom are in favor of repealing the pension reform.

After 18 months of denial and presidential overreach, the opening of a project to “correct the pension reform” is a first recognition of the violence of this reform. The CGT calls on the Prime Minister to repeal the reform and organize a conference on the financing of our pensions.
Public services: we need to mobilize against austerity
The Prime Minister's speech was very vague on the essentials, notably the future budget. The priority announced for schools, healthcare and early childhood must be translated into massive budgetary investment.
On this point, the Prime Minister made no commitments. Worse still, he denounced the level of public spending.
Vigilance and mobilization are required to prevent a violent austerity policy.
The serious impoverishment of our hospitals, schools and infrastructures calls for an ambitious financing plan to meet the challenges of the future, the environmental challenge, an ageing population and the need to open up our regions.
The same applies to industry, where the Prime Minister has made no concrete announcements, despite receiving from the CGT a list of 170 redundancy plans destroying 100,000 jobs. Nor was there any mention of the need to increase pensions for pensioners.
The CGT calls on employees and pensioners to continue to step up their struggles to keep the upper hand and win:
higher wages and pensions,
the repeal of pension reform,
funding for our public services,
the revival of our industry.