First modification: Last modification:
Paris (AFP) – The rail and air transport of France will continue to be affected during the weekend by the social movement against the pension reform proposed by President Emmanuel Macron, the authorities of those sectors foresee. This Thursday, March 9, there were also blockades in various educational institutions.
In France, the collective discontent over the pension reform, proposed by Emmanuel Macron, continues its course this Thursday, March 9. The third day of the strike has affected multiple sectors of the French country. Two of the most affected are transport, both air and rail, and education.
The air transport authority asked airlines to cancel 20% of their flights on Saturday and Sunday, due to a controller strike.
The national railway company SNCF announced for its part “strong disturbances” on its network on Friday, which should continue through the weekend.
In international connections, two out of every three Eurostar trains (Paris-London) will operate, a third of the usual ones with Italy and a quarter of the links with Spain.
A sharp reduction in commuter trains in the Paris region is also expected.
Lockdowns at colleges and universities
The student union L’Alternative reported in the morning blockades in around twenty establishments, including the universities of Montpellier, Besançon, Le Havre, Nanterre, Rouen and Grenoble, the Institutes of political studies in Bordeaux and Strasbourg and one of the two campus of the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) of Lyon.
Regarding secondary schools, the Ministry of Education reported 15 establishments blocked and seven partially blocked, and the union La Voix lycéenne reported 200 blocked secondary schools.
These mobilizations took place on the occasion of a “day of action and mobilization of youth”, at the initiative of various youth organizations, including the student unions (Unef, L’Alternative and Fage) and La Voz del Liceo.
Some protests that seem not to abate
The sixth day of protests against the pension reform, on Tuesday of this week, paralyzed large sectors of the second largest economy in the European Union (EU) and achieved a record mobilization of 1.28 million protesters, according to the authorities (3 .5 million, according to the CGT trade union).
The protests seek the Government to withdraw its plan to delay the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 and to advance to 2027 the requirement to contribute 43 years (and not 42, as now) to collect a full pension.
However, the Upper House voted in favor of article 7 of the pension reform project, which focuses on increasing the working time necessary to access retirement. A decision that threatens to exacerbate the spirits of the French.
with AFP
