* Indefinite strike at the Ardèche Nord Hospital Center in Annonay
* First strike at Leboncoin (a French online marketplace)* Strike by contract workers at El-Maarouf Hospital in Moroni (Comoros)
* A mobilization that refuses to back down in Gabon
* Teachers' strike in Chad
An indefinite strike at the Ardèche Nord Hospital Center in Annonay
The Ardèche Nord Hospital Center in Annonay is experiencing its second strike in less than a year. The movement, called by the CFDT and CGT unions, began on February 10, 2026, to protest the failure to replace staff for up to five days in the department during sick leave. According to the unions, this decision has serious consequences for working conditions and the smooth operation of the hospital. Another point of contention: volunteer staff members who wanted to reinforce the teams were reportedly refused. Part-time employees would also be excluded from replacement assignments, which would be reserved for full-time staff only. Another sensitive issue is management's recruitment policy. Unions claim that the institution no longer wishes to recruit civil servants and would now favor permanent contracts (CDI), considered less expensive. Civil servants receive a specific bonus, which those on permanent contracts do not. On February 24, a rally organized by the CFDT and CGT unions brought together 150 people in front of management's offices.
Sources: France Bleu, Le Réveil Vivarais, Lutte Ouvrière
Annonay Hospital on strike
First strike at Leboncoin
In November 2023, the French online marketplace Leboncoin (15,000 employees, the most visited website in France after Amazon) and Adevinta (its Norwegian parent company) were acquired for EUR12 billion by two investment funds, one American, Blackstone, and the other British, Permira. Since the acquisition, workers have been denouncing a deterioration in their working conditions, particularly due to the implementation by management of "performance improvement plans" (PIPs). These plans are techniques for pressuring employees, designed to "evaluate" them and then ask them to do more. In addition to these managerial tools, digital tools are used to monitor the activity of telesales agents, the objective of which is also to force employees to exert more effort. A similar tool is planned to monitor the IT teams' output.
The platform's workers are demanding an end to these methods and also a general wage increase to compensate for the cumulative inflation of the last four years (calculated at 15% by the unions). Faced with this situation, the workers voted in December to strike. After a few months of hesitation, the joint union group (CFDT, CGT, Solidaires) called on the company to stop work on March 18. This is a first for the company, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the end of the month. Approximately 10% of the workforce responded to the call at the Paris, Nantes, Mâcon, Reims, and Montceau-les-Mines sites, and about a hundred Parisian employees even held a picket line in the heart of the Sentier district. The employee representatives have filed a lawsuit. The hearing is scheduled for April 16. Meanwhile, the employees hope their strike will prompt a response from management and allow for a resumption of dialogue.
Sources: Syndicalisme hebdo, groupemarxiste.info
Strike by Contract Workers in the Comoros
Strike by Contract Workers at El-Maarouf Hospital in Moroni
After several strikes in recent years around the same demands, contract workers have announced an indefinite strike at El-Maarouf Hospital in Moroni, beginning March 9. "We can't be in the same hospital, do the same jobs, and have different salaries. Contract workers currently receive a salary of 57,500 Comorian francs (EUR117), while civil servants receive a salary of 100,000 francs (EUR203). What is truly essential right now is salary alignment and the on-call allowance. We can take it slowly and see how to address the other points. These two points are non-negotiable." Contract workers point out that a memorandum of understanding was signed with management in 2024 following a previous strike. According to the unions, it was never implemented. While the government has launched a major modernization project for El-Maarouf Hospital, including the construction of a new building estimated at nearly EUR55 million, the strikers emphasize that staff are necessary to run a hospital properly and that this also comes at a cost.
In a letter dated Tuesday, March 10, the management of El-Maarouf Hospital in Moroni, the capital of the Comoros, maintains that the ongoing strike violates the rules governing the right to strike. It asserts that no strike notice was filed and demands that contract workers return to their posts immediately to ensure the continuity of public service. The document also mentions possible administrative or disciplinary sanctions. After several weeks of action, negotiations between the strikers, hospital management, and the government remain stalled.
Sources: RFI
Teachers' General Assembly in Gabon
A mobilization that refuses to back down in Gabon
Since December 10, 2025, the National Education Union, the National Union of Technical and Vocational Education, and the SOS Education collective have paralyzed Gabonese public schools, with a participation rate exceeding 90%, according to the unions. The demands are not limited to financial arrears. They encompass decades of systematic administrative neglect. Teachers are demanding payment for unpaid shifts, back pay owed for years, the integration of 1,810 volunteers working without status or full salaries, the inclusion of 328 graduates from the Higher Teacher Training Colleges and ENSET (Higher Teacher Training College for Technical Education), the 692 graduates of ENIL (Libreville Teacher Training College) and ENIF (Franceville Teacher Training College), the reinstatement of frozen career promotions for 5,000 staff members, and the reclassification of 108 teachers. Initially launched for three days, from December 10 to 12, the movement was extended indefinitely on January 10, 2026, despite a general assembly on January 17 explicitly rejecting its resumption without concrete guarantees.
Faced with the success of the strike and the public's support for the movement, the government feigns openness to dialogue but, in reality, pursues a repressive policy. Two union leaders, Marcel Libama and Simon Ndong Edzo, were charged with obstructing freedom and imprisoned. This measure only served to radicalize the movement. February 24, 2026, marks a decisive turning point. The government announces 20 pay cuts instead of 148. This is not a mere technical delay but a deliberate betrayal of commitments made. In November 2025, parliamentary allowances are maintained at comfortable levels: 10 million CFA francs annually from the sovereign wealth fund per member of parliament, and 100 million for the Speaker of the National Assembly. On December 29, 2025, the Council of Ministers easily adopts a draft decree increasing the allowances and bonuses of general officers in the Defense Forces. The stated objective: "to better recognize the accumulated experience and increased responsibilities at the top of the military hierarchy."
With more than 27,000 teachers spread across the country, national mobilization remains a major challenge. The strike has severely paralyzed the country's public schools, middle schools, and high schools. General assemblies were held on Saturdays in each of the nine provinces, with each province holding decision-making power.
Two opposing viewpoints have emerged within SOS Education. On one side, a majority expresses an almost institutionalized distrust of any initiative for dialogue. This group perceives the consultation proposed by the Minister as a sterile ritual: committees, protocol-driven dialogues, and recorded promises have been repeated for three decades, without ever materializing in the daily reality of teachers. Conversely, a pragmatic minority advocates a more realistic approach. They believe that refusing dialogue would be tactically ineffective and would harm the collective representation of teachers. For these stakeholders, dialogue remains an opportunity-even if symbolic-to amplify teachers' voices, formalize their demands, and potentially obtain concrete concessions. SOS Education's primary demands are the immediate release of a mathematics teacher arrested in Mouila while performing his duties, and an end to the police's obstruction of teachers' right to strike in Port-Gentil. "Repression will not solve the problems. On the contrary, it only worsens the situation." The President of the SOS Education movement announced in Libreville, during a press conference, the official transformation of the collective into a union. According to her, this transformation aims to provide the organization with a formal legal framework, enabling it to more effectively defend the interests of precarious and marginalized teachers, in strict compliance with current legal provisions. Translation to CHAD
Teachers' Strike in Chad
The Provincial Branch of the Chadian Teachers' Union for the city of N'Djamena, meeting in an Extraordinary General Assembly on February 14, 2026, decided to begin a two-week strike to demand better working conditions. They are demanding the implementation of Decree 2850 concerning the special status of teachers. Union leaders denounce a discrepancy between the commitments made and their budgetary implementation. "Without inclusion in the finance law, the decree remains a dead letter," confides a union official, who speaks of a gradual loss of confidence in the authorities. Angered by the fact that classes continue as normal in private schools while they are deprived of education, public school students demonstrated on February 16 to disrupt school activities in other institutions. The movement, which began in the Walia neighborhood, quickly spread to other areas of the capital.
The Minister of National Education and Civic Promotion and the Minister of Public Service believe the strike was launched in violation of legal procedures. According to them, this strike, motivated by the demand for the implementation of Decree No. 2850 concerning the special status of teachers, is not due to delayed salary payments. The government is invoking Law 32, which regulates the exercise of the right to strike in public services. Article 15 of this law stipulates that "days not worked due to strike action" are not paid and are the responsibility of the unions that initiated the movement. Salaries for striking teachers from the Chadian Teachers' Union (SET) in the Ndjamena branch have been cut, as well as for those in the Guéra province, particularly in the city of Mongo, who did not participate in the strike. The movement is spreading to other provinces. Among the demands is effective healthcare coverage for teachers. An increase in the housing allowance, from 20,000 to 100,000 CFA francs; the regular payment of chalk allowances; and a revision of Decree No. 477, deemed unfavorable to the teaching profession.
The Ombudsman of the Republic met on February 27, 2026, with representatives of the Chadian Teachers' Union (SET), N'Djamena provincial branch, to discuss the concerning situation related to the ongoing strike in schools, which began on February 14. During the discussions, the Ombudsman proposed that the union leaders suspend the strike to facilitate further talks with the government. Teachers in N'Djamena decided to pause their strike amidst the high tension. Meeting in an extraordinary general assembly, the rank and file agreed to suspend the strike to allow for negotiations.
The general assemblies held at the end of March and beginning of April focused on salary payments and adherence to agreements made with the authorities. Following these discussions, the teachers decided to suspend their strike for a period of one to three weeks. They are, however, calling on the government to exercise restraint and to reimburse half of the affected salaries as soon as possible and without conditions. While this conditional resumption of work offers a brief respite to the education sector, the threat of a new strike looms as early as April 10th if no concrete progress is made.
The teaching staff consists of national teachers and community teachers recruited by Parents' Associations (APE) and Mothers' Associations (AME). In 2021, the number of teachers was 796 in preschool, 48,394 in primary school (grades 1-5), and 13,743 in middle school (grades 6-9).
Sources: tribune echos, atpe, Journal du Tchad, RFI, Tchadinfos, manara, globe-infos, Alwihda Info, africa-press, chagramedia, lendjampost, apanewst, dari-infos
https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4719
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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