November 2024 strikes: farmers, SNCF, teachers… The first blockades and the dates to know

Against the government's unfulfilled promises and a potential agreement between the EU and Mercosur, farmers have started their blockade actions on the roads and in front of the prefectures. On the SNCF side, the first strikes are announced for this Wednesday.

There are likely to be many social movements in November. As a reminder, the RATP and the airline pilots opened the show with strikes that did not cause any disruption on November 12 and 14, but other sectors have promised to mobilize and want to make themselves heard: farmers, the SNCF and many civil service professions. The unions in all these sectors have set the dates for the next mobilizations, but they are also warning of a possible extension of the movements in the absence of satisfactory responses from the state. Some also warn against a rise in social mobilizations, particularly during the end-of-year holiday period.

Each sector has its own demands, but many are linked to the budget bill. The airline sector opposes the increase in a tax planned for January 2025, the Civil Service denounces the measures taken by its ministry concerning waiting days and compensation for sick leave… On the SNCF workers are denouncing the competition between certain lines and the dismantling of certain services, while farmers are focusing their anger on working conditions and the free trade agreement with Mercosur. Teachers are also mobilised, demanding better recognition of their work.

Farmer mobilisations: first roads blocked and prefectures damaged

The two majority unions, the FNSEA and the Young Farmers (JA) have announced the start of a national movement starting Monday, November 18. And the agricultural crisis continues and is growing with the mobilization of the Rural Coordination, the second largest union in the sector, in addition to the actions initiated by the alliance of the majority unions FNSEA-JA. While “85 demonstration points” have been counted yesterday, they could be more numerous this Tuesday, November 19.

The Rural Coordination, the second largest agricultural union, has called for an “agricultural revolt” starting on Tuesday, November 19, by demonstrating in front of the prefectures. In the absence of a response from the state, the union warns against actions to block “French food freight” from November 20 to “give the government a taste of what our country will be like tomorrow without farmers.” Some farmers also believe that the movement “will be tougher than last time”. The agricultural movement is already hardening with the mobilization of the Rural Coordination this Tuesday: the union is organizing a blockade of the A9 at the Franco-Spanish border that could last several days. Elsewhere, they are going to the prefectures and dumping manure and waste, such as in Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) or Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes).

Strike in SNCF from November 20 to 22, then in December ?

While the SNCF inter-union has called for a strike this Thursday, November 21, which will begin on Wednesday, November 20 at 7 p.m. until Thursday, November 22 in the morning, 8 a.m., the first disruptions were announced by SNCF Voyageurs this Tuesday, announcing “almost normal” TGV traffic. but “some disruptions” are expected “on some regional lines”. The strike therefore appears to have little impact on rail traffic for the time being. More detailed traffic forecasts will be released here at the end of the day. 

This day of strike action to denounce a “strategy of social dumping and unlimited financial profitability” on the part of the management of the railway company is announced as an “ultimatum” before a potential movement renewable every 24 hours envisaged in from Wednesday, December 11, 2024, i.e. 10 days before the start of the end-of-year holidays. The consequences for SNCF users could be considerable. If the strike continues after December 11, it could disrupt scheduled travel during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

A day of “action” and “strike” for the Civil Service on December 5

“The trade union organizations CGT, CFDT, UNSA, FSU, Solidaires, CFE-CGC and FA-FP are calling on civil service employees to hold a day of action, rallies, demonstrations and strikes across the country on December 5, 2024”, they said in a press release published on November 14. An agreement was reached to organize a mobilization and oppose the measures desired by the government and Minister Guillaume Kasbarian concerning the extension of the waiting period for civil service to three days, compared to one currently.

Only the FO union did not join the call and instead preferred to maintain its proposal to conduct a three-day renewable strike “at the same time as the railway workers' strike”, on November 21, specified the general secretary of the UIAFP-FO, Christian Grolier, at AFP.  “We're going to take the minister's game at its word: three days of waiting, three days of strike”, the unionist said after a meeting of the organizations with the minister.

The Civil Service includes several professional fields, the mobilization dates could however multiply and the first branch to have announced a mobilization is that of early childhood on Tuesday, November 19. This is also happening on the national education side with the filing of a social alert against job cuts, without however calling for a strike, for the time being. Professionals in the health sector and social action have, however, filed a notice of a renewable strike in inter-union. Municipal police officers have also filed a notice of strike on Friday, with the National Union of Public Security.

Latest updates

15:33 – Farmers' mobilizations announced for this Wednesday

The farmers' blockades will continue tomorrow. Several unions have already announced new mobilizations for Wednesday, November 20, including the Young Farmers of Aude who have given an appointment in Carcassonne at 6 p.m., or the Rural Coordination which has announced actions at Ruffec, in Charente.

As a reminder, the farmers' unions are demonstrating with the same demands as at the beginning of the year, regretting that the government's promises have not yet been fulfilled. They are also, and above all, opposed to the signing of a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur.

15:25 – When will the SNCF strike begin ?

The strike on Thursday, November 21, 2024 will take place from Wednesday, November 20 at 7 p.m. to Friday, November 22 at 8 a.m. Traffic will therefore return to normal on Friday, November 22. In December, users of the main lines (TGV, Intercités), medium-sized lines (TER) and smaller lines on the Île-de-France network (Transilien and RER managed by SNCF) could expect major disruptions from 7 p.m. on December 11, but we do not know for how long.