As weeks are turning into months and the anti-pension reform rallies are gathering momentum and turning up the heat in the streets and avenues of France, President Emmanuel Macron seems to be completely detached from reality, basking in the glory of such popular cynicism and ire.
The trigger for the strikes and protests was a controversial pension reform plan that provides for upping the retirement age from 62 to 64. The unpopular bill was passed with no parliament vote using a loophole in the French constitution called article 49:3.
Today, the French nation is waiting for the final decision by the Constitutional Council to see if the bill is lawful and constitutional or not. However, regardless of the outcome, protesters are on the move, swarming the streets to voice their discontent, even rage, at a law they see unfair.
In Lyon, police officers used excessive force against the citizens and, while trying to scatter the crowds, hit in the head a reporter of “Actu Lyon” newspaper who was rushed to the hospital while bleeding. Another man in Paris was wounded in the face by a baton while policemen were forcing the mob back.
Weapons such as truncheons, tear gas grenades and water cannons were used in Paris, Nantes, Lille, Bordeaux, Rennes and Vannes against peaceful protesters, even when they raised their hands in a gesture of surrender.
Demonstrators blocked stations, and barricaded high schools and roundabouts before joining the protests.
The Constitutional Council was targeted on Thursday by demonstrators, who blocked the entrance to the building, lit smoke bombs, and set up roadblocks using garbage cans.
Members of the anti-globalization organization “Attac” also raised a banner reading “Be wise, censor”. The body denounced the arrest of several of its members, pointing out that the multiplication of arbitrary arrests and similar actions undermine their right to demonstrate.
Interior Minister Gérald DARMANIN decided to ban demonstrations near the Constitutional Council on Friday to avoid possible clashes.
The police prefecture is expected to issue an order banning gatherings in the area until Saturday morning. The same prefecture said that it arrested, before and during the march, 25 individuals.
According to a survey made by the group “Ifop” (the French Institute of Public Opinion) and the French company “Fiducial” for “Sud Radio”, 62% of the French support the social movement against this reform, a significant increase of 11 points compared to Jan 2023.
73% of the French population want the implementation of a referendum of on pension reform, 69% require a large ministerial reshuffle and 61% call for dissolving the National Assembly.
Concerning the education sector, hundreds of high school students blocked schools in Paris. In the energy sector, 20% of the Donges (Loire-Atlantique) and La Mède (Bouches-du-Rhône) were on strike at Total-Energies and interrupted the shipments.
In Lyon, the entrance to the Feyzin refinery was blocked for about two hours on Thursday morning by a hundred union and “ultra-left” activists.
Complete blockades were made In Strasbourg, Rennes, and Caen.
As for air traffic, The Civil Aviation Directorate announced that disruptions, cancellations, or delays are expected. It also invited travelers to postpone travel.
In Paris, metro and RER traffic was slightly disrupted, according to the RATP. Railway workers began an inter-union general assembly in Lyon Station.
Businesses and urban furniture were also damaged. Protestors entered the headquarters of the luxury industry LVMH (Louis Vuitton) and threw smoke bombs inside it. Crédit Mutuel bank was also damaged.
In Rennes, there were acts of vandalism against shop windows and urban furniture, while two Mercedes and Tesla vehicles parked along the route were broken and burned. Protesters also broke into a luxury hotel in Lyon.
The French Interior Ministry announced that the Thursday rallies totaled 380,000 people; a figure challenged by the CGT Union which say that over one million protesters took to streets.