March 7 () –
The complications in public transport and the roadblocks in some areas have marked the start of the new day of strikes and mobilizations called this Tuesday in France against the pension reform proposed by the Government, in which once again it is expected that around a million people take to the streets across the country.
The unions, which have called more than 300 marches, want to enter a “new phase” of mobilizations, as explained by the General Secretary of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Philippe Martinez. “The responsibility lies solely with the Government,” warned Martinez, who in an interview with Franceinfo appealed to take into account the “social movement.”
The Ministry of the Interior has mobilized 10,500 police officers and gendarmes — some 4,200 of them in Paris alone — in the face of the demonstrations, which are preceded by complications in the train and metro networks. Hundreds of people have also gathered near the Charles de Gaulle airport, the main airfield of the French capital, according to BFMTV.
The unions also aspired to a broad monitoring of the call in educational centers, while the CGT has ensured that the transport of fuel is blocked in “all refineries” in the country – although shortages at gas stations are not expected.
Former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from La Francia Insumisa (LFI), has affirmed that the “direct” person responsible for the current situation is the president, Emmanuel Macron, whom he has asked to take “the democratic initiative”. For Mélenchon, who spoke to the press in Marseille, the solution is to withdraw the reform, dissolve the National Assembly or call a referendum.
The Government’s plan, which is currently in the process of being processed by Parliament, proposes raising the official retirement age from 62 to 64 years, extending the years of contribution necessary to receive the maximum pension and eliminating the specific regimes that exist today for certain sectors.
