Report

In Reunion, roadblocks and strikes against the pension reform

Picket of Albioma employees in Gol, Saint-Louis, Reunion Island on Thursday, March 23, 2023. © Lola Fourmy / RFI

Text by: Lola Fourmy

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The ninth day of mobilization against the pension reform was followed on the island of Reunion where demonstrators and strikers organized road blockades and snail operations to denounce a reform passed in force.

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Motorists who risked taking the road this morning in Reunion had to be patient. At dawn, a snail operation set sail from the East to the Possession. Several filtering dams in the south caused several hours of traffic jams on the main road of the island.

Hundreds of demonstrators: local government staff, construction workers, teachers and dockers denounced a reform passed by forceps, but also the contempt for the struggle, expressed by Emmanuel Macron in his last televised address. All blockades were lifted around 15:30 p.m. local time.

End of the strike at the Albioma thermal power plant in Gol

It is a symbol of the protest against the pension reform, the picket of the employees of the Albioma thermal power plant in Gol, in Saint-Louis, also attracted protesters from all walks of life: teacher, specialized educator, saleswoman in ready-to-wear, came to swell the ranks of the comrades of the factory. After regular participation in weekly demonstrations, these employees had indeed returned to a continuous strike for the past six days. 24 hours a day, they took turns on the picket line to denounce both the substance of the reform and the form.

Luigi, a thermal installation operator in Albioma for fifteen years, spent last night on the picket line, so it was tired, but determined, that he cooked this lunch the carry camarons, a typical Reunionese dish, for all the demonstrators who converged on the site. "Reunion Island is abandoned, we are forgotten. We are part of the France. Have you seen the government we have? We're going to bring him down," says the employee.

The CGTR union delegate of Albioma in Gol, Timothée Payet joins him "We are the voice of the people, we come to say that we are against this reform. It is unfair, is there no other financial levers: tax evasion, how much does it represent per year? He asks. The strike, which mobilized 95% of the staff according to the unions, will finally end tomorrow, Friday, in accordance with the vote of the employees gathered in general assembly. But the unions remain vigilant and do not rule out joining the new demonstrations to come.

► Read also: Pension reforms: a day of large-scale mobilization throughout the France

Towards a resumption of activities at the Port

Spearheading the social revolt, the dockers of the Port continued to demonstrate and operated a new day of strike. After three days of operation "dead port" without handling ships or deliveries of containers, we are moving towards a resumption of activity from tomorrow unless new strike notices are filed.

But the delay has accumulated, "just this week, 5,000 containers could not be unloaded and it is about the same figure each week of strike so the return to normal will take ten to fifteen days, if there is no new mobilization" explains Fabrice Brunetti, commander at the captaincy of the Port. " The embankments are saturated and the other ports to which ships were redirected such as Mauritius or Madagascar are also beginning to be full," says the captaincy without worrying about shortages for the moment "but if it were to last several months, we could imagine it".

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A successful black Thursday" for the CFDT

Joël Dalleau, secretary general of the CFDT Réunion, mobilized on the roundabout of Cambaie today, welcomes him the extent of the mobilization of the day. "For us, it's a success, the population buys in. We realize that even when people are stuck for an hour in traffic, when they reach our height, they agree with us. They too are opposed to the reform and we welcome that! " he explains.

If there is no more strike in progress in companies where the CFDT is present, new movements are not excluded in the future. And Joël Dalleau assures him, "the law is before the Constitutional Council, there is still the question of the referendum of shared initiative, so there is still hope. This shows that our actions may not be trivial! The whole thing is to hold on the length" summarizes the elected Reunionese.

► READALSO: France: protesters and union denounce an increase in police violence

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