 For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Hello and welcome to People's Dispatch. Today, we're joined by Basile Ackerman, who works with the CGT Education Union in France, and we're going to be talking about the situation that has emerged in the country after the reopening of a section of schools. France has been one of the country's worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been about 180,000 cases, over 28,000 deaths. But the number has come down recent days in the government in the beginning of the month declared that it would reopen schools. But shortly after the schools were reopened, there were at least 70 cases that were reported from these institutions. And so to talk about this situation, we have with us Basile. Basile, thank you so much for joining us. So first of all, could you first talk about what is currently happening right now? I understand that after there was the spike in the cases, the government decided to maybe shut down some of the schools. So could you talk about the process that led to the reopening and what were the union's concerns about it? Yeah, hi everybody. Since two weeks in France, the French government has decided to open the elementary schools in our country. In my union, we are in opposition with this decision since the beginning, because the schools can be the first place to reopen. All the scientists are agree with that. And since the beginning, we are worried about the sanitary condition, because all the protection, like masks, hydro-alcoholic gel, were not arrived in all the schools. The sanitary protocol to reopen the schools are not validated by the authorities. A lot of colleagues are alone in this critical period with a lot of responsibilities with justice, for example. My union has received a lot of alerts in my department, and the administration doesn't give answer. The families are worried too. Only 15 or 20 percent of the children are present in the schools. The improvisation is total. This solution is chosen by the government just to permit to the parents to go back to the work to revive the economy. Today, the public service of education is just used like babysitting with the children, because it's impossible to continue the education with the very little part of children who are present in the schools. In the CGT, we re-indicate that all the protection respects the norms, first of all, and we want test for the workers and the population, of course. So are the schools that were reopened, have they been shut again, or is there any talk about reopening them again? So what is happening right now? Right now, it's totally confused, because we have a lot of meetings with the administration, and we don't have an answer, like I just said before. But it's very difficult to my union to have an answer and give a lot of information to our colleagues. It's difficult to have a mobilization, because we work just with the media, with internet, with email, with videos, with papers, but it's difficult to meet all the teachers in the department. And could you talk a bit about what has been the larger impact of the pandemic on the education sector in France itself, and what have been the union's evaluation of this issue? During the pandemic, all the education workers were in teleworking, distential working with the pupils. The minister said we are ready, but for me, nothing was ready. And actually, in the French education, all our websites, all our digital tools are insufficient, and a lot of teachers spend money to be equipped with phone, computer, numeric tools, or printed tools. A lot of teachers need to use personal tools like Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp to still connect with their pupils. But the main question with that is the utilization about the protection to our personal data. And the teleworking in the public education in France is not ready. And the CGT refused this kind of education because the social inequalities are very important with this kind of method. I think it's a good opportunity for the private schools and the private media to develop their existence in the education in France. And for my union, we revendicate a development in the numeric tools, but in the public service. Exactly. So could you talk a bit about the larger sector itself, as in how much of a role does the private sector have in the education in France, and what are the kind of areas they're involved in? In France, the public service of education is the most important, but with the Liberals government, the private schools are in development. They, with the last education laws, the public, like municipalities, like government, can't give money to the private schools to be created, to be developed. So it's a very big struggle in our country to beat the private school. Right. And also to talk a bit about the situation before the pandemic. So what were the key demands that the unions were raising at that point of time? And especially I think in the research sector, there were some issues that were being raised. And could you talk a bit about how mobilization on those issues has continued during this process? Yeah, before the pandemic, between December and March, the union are mobilized about the reform pensions. It was a liberal reform which wanted to transform our actual system, its repartition in a capitalization system. It was a big struggle in France, a lot of trade unions, a lot of demonstrations with 100,000 participants, every week in the streets, in every city in the country. The movement was stopped by the pandemic, and now the government has decided to stop the reform project too. Okay, because of the pandemic. It's a little win for the unions, but of course, we can trust the capitalists. And early or late, they will be back with this social regression reform. Absolutely. And I believe that there was also a strike over, which is of course in the research sector over the LPPR reforms, also, which was a big issue at that point of time. It's a difficult reform for our colleagues in the university for the research, because he introduced a lot of private decisions in this part of education. We have a lot of problems with university in France too, because, for example, the foreigners' students need to pay more than before to be a student in France. So in our trade union, we have organized a lot of campaigns above this problem. But like the other problems, the French government can't answer to our trade union because they are liberal and we are not. Exactly. And finally, what are the key demands that the CGT education is putting to the government on the pandemic and also other related issues? Since the beginning, with the Macron's government, we are in opposition with them. We don't have the same vision of education. We want a public education who can develop the culture, who can develop the intelligence, the autonomy of the pupils with an obligation to be in school since three years old to 18 years old. And, of course, the government can't be agree with that because they want to create social difference between pupils, they don't want a lot of degrees for the pupils. To have workers with bad salaries and that's all. Right. Thank you so much for talking to us. Thank you. That's all we have time for today. Keep watching People's Dispatch.