peoplescommissariat:

There is no “Christmas truce” for the workers of the Electricity Company of France (EDF) who are on strike. Workers are reconnecting service to poor families and lowering the price of tariffs to popular sectors, while cutting off power to police stations, management and large companies.Since the beginning of the strike on December 5, electricians and energy workers maintain power outages against Macron’s pension reform. A fighting method that exposes the strength of the workers and the strategic place they occupy, with the possibility of paralyzing government buildings and large companies with power outages.

While the strike has had a greater impact among workers of the SNCF (railway), RATP (metropolitan transport company of Paris), National Education or even health, energy workers are not far behind.

Among them are electricians and gas workers. Of the main companies in the sector there are 41.4% of workers are striking in EDF (Electricity Company of France), 39% in Engie and more than 60% in Enedis. From Tuesday, December 10, the strikers voted in assemblies to generate localized power cuts. Michaële Guégan, director of human resources at Enedis, the most important electricity distribution network, notes that there have been selective cuts “in certain public buildings, a commercial area in Bordeaux, a university in Lyon and even a hospital center.”

At the same time, the workers changed 80,000 users in the Lyon region to the category of low consumption, and justified their action by saying that “energy is not a commodity” but is “essential goods, whose access must be guaranteed to all.” This action generated enormous sympathy among the popular sectors and a great anger among the businessmen and politicians who consider it a crime.

At the same time, the workers changed 80,000 users in the Lyon region to the category of low consumption, and justified their action by saying that “energy is not a commodity” but is “essential goods, whose access must be guaranteed to all.” This action generated enormous sympathy among the popular sectors and a great anger among the businessmen and politicians who consider it a crime.

In fact, these actions had consequences for the strikers, the union is being targeted by government repression and judicial prosecution. This Thursday, the 20th secretary general of the CGT energy of Lille was arrested and prosecuted.

Nicolas Noguès, deputy secretary general of the CGT energy department of Seine-Saint-Denis, explained how they hit industrial and commercial areas such as Andorra or the city of Dieppe that contains important industries. They also cut the 400 kW Germany-France line.

Bastien, an activist worker at EDF, said “we take the kilowatts of the richest and return them to the poorest.” This means of action, beyond the fact that it penalizes energy suppliers by drastically reducing profits, has the merit of having a positive impact on households, since millions suffer from the country’s energy deficit.

These actions, which have found enormous support among the population, show that the fight against pension reform is not corporate, as denounced by the French Government, but that the workers demonstrate that this strike movement is strongly marked by class solidarity.