Over the past few days, protesters have been flooding the arteries and avenues of major French cities at the call of enraged trade unions (CGT, CFDT, FO, CFTC, FSU…), which vowed to grind the new pension reform to a halt.
The French government had decided to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 as part of a controversial pension reform plan.
The decision, deemed unfair by unions and workers, sparked outrage that took the shape of a “national action day”, similar to the Feb. 16 mobilization where 1.3 million demonstrators took to streets. At the time, the French Interior Ministry had declared only 440K protesters.
By Tuesday, March 8, the union-led movement had already gained momentum. The leaders are now threatening to bring France to a standstill if their demands are not met. This means involving the beating heart of metropolitan France: transportation.
In fact, the movement warned that transport, via roads, railways and airplanes, will be severely disrupted as a result of roadblocks. Many airports were advised to reduce their traffic by up to 30%.
The strike implicates also the industry and energy sectors as the movement aims to block the whole fuel production-distribution-importation chain, as it did for three liquefied terminals which were paralyzed.
Trade unions called on employees of the education sector to join the rolling strikes and shut down schools. The trade industry is expected to follow suit.
The social movement, which started on Jan. 19, culminated in the organization, Tuesday, of over 300 protests across France.
All demos were brutally repressed. In Rennes, policemen violently dispersed the crowds. Lyon witnessed open confrontations between citizens and the police who used water cannons to drive them away. And in Nantes, the forces of order used tear gas against protesters.
Protests are still ongoing as there is no sign of a let-up in the problematic government plan.