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The unions keep up the pulse and assure that they will go out to protest as many times as necessary against the pension reform promoted by the Government of Emmanuel Macron. For workers, it is unacceptable to increase the retirement age and the time of contribution to access the full pension; for the Executive, both conditions are “non-negotiable”.
It’s not the first and it won’t be the last either. That has been one of the key messages of the French workers in this second day of national strike against the pension reform.
The controversial bill of the Government of Emmanuel Macron brought thousands of citizens to the streets protesting against various points of the regulations, mainly the increase in the retirement age, which will gradually go from 62 to 64 years in 2030, and the increase from 42 to 43 years of contribution to access the full pension.
The energy, transport and educational sectors, among others, have been the sectors most affected by the strike, which includes some 240 mobilizations in different regions of the country.
“We need to be heard. The government should have reflected when it saw the crowd that stopped on January 19. Something bigger is going to happen on the 31st. The Executive needs to abandon the reform,” said Fréderic Souillot, leader of the CGT, prior to the conference. .
The massive first day of the strike, on January 19, led the authorities to deploy a reinforced police operation with up to 11,000 agents throughout the country on January 31, 4,000 of them in Paris alone. The Government fears that small radical groups could stage riots.
Chaos in transport and schools for the second day of national strike
Only a third of the high-speed trains, TGV, circulate this Tuesday, while two thirds of the transport lines in the Paris metropolitan area have been suspended, in addition to 90% of the commuter trains.
Orly airport authorities reported that 20% of its flights, both departing and arriving, had to be cancelled. In turn, the airline Air France eliminated 10% of its short routes, but kept all intercontinental ones.
The SNES-FSU, the main secondary school teachers’ union, had announced a turnout of around 55% of teachers, who in many places were supported by their students. Outside the Turgot school in central Paris, several youngsters carried banners with messages such as “support workers” or “we are angry young people.”
Likewise, an important part of the oil refineries and public broadcasters saw their services interrupted.
New call for national strike for next week
Not even half of the day of this January 31 had elapsed, when the unions already called another day of massive strikes to continue putting pressure on the Government.
Workers at EDF, France’s electricity company, along with those from other companies in the gas industry, called for protests on February 6, 7 and 8. This was confirmed by Fabrice Coudour, national secretary of the Mines and Energy-CGT union.
In turn, the railway workers called a new protest for February 7 and 8.
With Reuters and AP
