France’s social climate is getting tenser with the staging of daily demonstrations since the government adopted Article 49.3 without the vote of deputies. Anger escalated even more after French President Macron’s televised speech.
Trade unions called once again for massive protests all over France on Thursday. The unions (CGT, FO, CFDT, FSU, Unsa, CFTC, Solidaires, etc.) had announced nearly 240 rally sites. Local authorities forecast between 600,000 and 800,000 people, including 40,000 to 70,000 in Paris.
About 500 yellow vests and 500 radical elements were expected in Paris and other provinces, in addition to demonstrations of the ultra-left, encouraged by the climate of violence in recent days.
Between 40% and 50% of strikers were expected in nurseries and elementary schools. Strikers include refiners, electricians, and gas workers. As for transportation, traffic was severely disrupted at the RATP and SNCF, where only half of the TGVs and a third of the TERs were able to run.
The high school union called for massive blockades all over the county Thursday and Friday. In the air sector, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) asked airlines to cancel 30% of flights at Orly and 20% at Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse.
Ministry of Energy Transition said, on Thursday, that supply of kerosene to the Ile-de-France and its airports through Normandy is becoming critical because of ongoing strikes in the refineries.
In this regard, the government issued a requisition order to the strikers at the TotalEnergies refinery in Normandy, which was shut down last weekend, blocking fuel shipments.
For its part, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been warning airlines for several days that kerosene reserves at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports are under strain, urging them to take precautions.
The DGAC advised, on Mar.17, all flights to Paris-CDG to take on as much fuel as possible from their airport of origin. An almost identical recommendation was published the next day for Paris-Orly.
French police used tear gas to disperse protestors in the Place de la République and Nantes. Demonstrators entered the administrative court in Nantes ransacking the reception and breaking windows and doors, according to AFP.
In Lorient, the unrest was unprecedented as the city’s police station and forces of order were taken for targets by demonstrators, largely young people covering their faces.
In Marseille, the CGT announced 280,000 people gathering in streets.
For the first time since the beginning of the protests, some firemen belonging to the department of Yvelines joined the Parisian procession, wearing their uniforms.
Thursday was the ninth day of ongoing protests triggered by the controversial pension reform plan, but it is the first day after the law adoption, using Article 49.3 which allows the executive to force laws through parliament without a vote.