Strikes over pension reform cripple France
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French transport workers walked off the job, hitting train, metro and bus services on Tuesday for the sixth consecutive day, while civil servants, teachers and students joined the strike to bend the government over its plan to reform the country’s pension system.
Demonstrations were called across France during the day, the second such action in less than a week, as unions are looking to fill the streets in a show of force to push their demand to drop a planned universal pension system.
“Given the level of discontent, there is a need to amplify mobilization. (The government) must listen to the employees’ anger,” said Philippe Martinez, head of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), at Paris rally.
The same stance was echoed by Yves Veyrier, secretary general of the Force Ouvriere (Workers’ Force) union.
“If we have no answer we will let nothing go. We have no reason to abandon a system that works. We have every reason not only to preserve it but to improve it,” he said.
Last Thursday’s nationwide rallies drew 1.5 million participants, according to the unions. Police estimated the turnout at 806,000 people.
The fresh day of social action, meanwhile, seemed to attract fewer protesters. In Marseille and Lyon, police estimated the turnout at 12,000 and 9,500 people, respectively. The figures stood 25,000 at 21,000 during the previous demonstration.
Rallies were also reported in Montpellier, Bordeaux, Tours, le Havre and Avignon, while the main rally kicked off in Paris in the afternoon.