November 2024 strikes: farmers, SNCF… The dates of the disruptions are becoming clearer

The SNCF, farmers, the airline industry and even civil servants have called for strikes during the month of November. Mobilizations are already planned for several dates and they could last until the end of the year.

November promises to be a busy month of social movements as several calls for strikes have been launched for the coming days. Farmers who are expressing their anger, only a few months after a mobilization that lasted several weeks at the beginning of the year, and are demanding to be able to live from their profession after a difficult year in terms of harvests and while a health crisis is affecting livestock farming. But many other sectors are mobilizing against social plans and budgetary measures serving the State and are looking for 60 billion euros of savings.

Several calls for strikes by sectors that have nothing to do with each other have been launched; at least four are planned for the week of November 11 to 17. Others have been announced for the following weeks. And the ball of strikes begins this Tuesday, November 12, which has filed a strike notice in effect until dawn on Wednesday, November 13. The Ile-de-France transport authority opposes the opening to competition for RATP buses, which it considers to be a “pretext for incessant attacks on staff numbers, working conditions and pay”. However, the strike movement must have no impact on transport traffic in the Ile-de-France region, as RATP has stated in Libération.”60~em> Other calls for the mobilization on the other hand could lead to disruptions.

Airline pilots' strike on November 14

The national union of airline pilots (SNPL), which has a large majority in the profession, is calling for a strike this Thursday, November 14. A strike that is accompanied by a call to demonstrate in front of the National Assembly against the government's proposal to collect “an additional billion euros per year from the airline sector” via taxes. The initiative was relayed by several other unions – UNSA transport, UNSA PNC, CFE-CGC FNEMA, UNAC, SNPNC-FO and FEETS-FO – who invite “all employees in the airline sector to come and demonstrate their disagreement with this deadly taxation for jobs” in the airline sector.

MPs voted to increase taxation on airline tickets, limiting the measure to a period of one year and excluding flights to overseas territories and Corsica from the scheme. Tickets are expected to increase by €2.60 to €9.50 per person for European flights, by €7.50 to €15 for intermediate destinations and by €7.50 to €40 for international flights. for long-haul flights according to the Budget rapporteur general, Charles de Courson.

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Mobilization of farmers from November 15

Farmers' mobilizations have resumed in some places with shock actions in some departments, but the movement is likely to gain momentum from mid-November at the call of the two majority unions, the FNSEA and the Young Farmers (JA). The organizations are calling on farmers to take action throughout the country. They warn that without a rapid and satisfactory response from the State, they could toughen up by blocking roads and the movement of food freight, as at the beginning of the year. This protest is taking place in a few months before professional elections in the agricultural sector, while the government assures that it has implemented two thirds of the measures promised after the January protests.

Heavy rains, which reduced cereal harvests by 40%, and the mobilizations at the beginning of the year that remained unanswered are not going well. Added to this are the negotiations on an agreement between Mercorsur (economic alliance of South American countries) and Europe. France is opposed to the signing of the agreement pushed by European neighbours and farmers are putting pressure on the agreement, which would be unfavourable to it and would lead to unfair competition, not to pass.

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

The railway workers' unions have also called for a strike from the evening of Wednesday, November 20 until the morning of Friday, November 22. Several union organizations, including CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail and CFDT-Cheminots, warn that this mobilization is “an ultimatum” before “a longer and stronger strike movement in December” if the government and SNCF do not respond to their demands. They have also filed a notice of unlimited strike starting Wednesday, December 11, which will be renewable in 24-hour increments. At SNCF, it is the announced dismantling of Fret SNCF and the terms of the opening up of regional lines to competition that are pushing mobilization.

Civil servants in the streets at the beginning of December

On the civil service side, the FO and the CGT are calling for a strike, but the movement is not yet clearly defined. The two unions were invited to a meeting with the Minister of Civil Service, Guillaume Kasbarian, which ended in failure. The minister wants to extend the civil service waiting period to three days, compared to one currently. “We'll take the minister's game at its word: three days of waiting, three days of strike,” replied the general secretary of the UIAFP-FO, Christian Grolier. The day of the strike movement has not yet been announced, but union leaders have mentioned the possibility of a mobilization "at the beginning of December". 

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11:10 – With a strike on November 12, the RATP opens the ball

While several calls for strikes have been launched for the coming days, including several for the weekend, the RATP is kicking off this period which promises to be busy with social movements. The Paris region transport authority has filed a strike notice for Tuesday, November 12 and until 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning to protest against the introduction of competition between bus lines. This first strike remains symbolic, however, since no disruption to traffic has been announced. It should even go unnoticed, unlike the next movements.