Ongoing Protests in France as Pension Reform Faces Union Opposition

Despite the fact that the newly-adopted, very controversial pension reform has become a fait accompli, French trade unions are still pushing back by staging strikes and demos on Tuesday, dubbed “the 14th day of national protest”, as reported by international media.
Since January, hundreds of thousands took to the streets across France to protest and make the government scrap the bill. The French cabinet did not yield an iota and used loopholes in constitution to pass the law with no parliament vote.
“It’s going to be another big day in the history of the trade union movement,” the new head of the hard-left CGT union, Sophie Binet, told French BFM Television channel.
“After six months the unions are still united and the level of anger, frustration and motivation is high; it is not over despite that some think it is,” she added.
About 250 demos have been announced across the country, and officials expect between 400,000 and 600,000 people to take to the streets. Many protesters opposing the pension law said that they cannot actually afford to go on strikes, according to Carrys Garland from France 24.
Members of hard-left CGT union temporarily occupied the headquarters of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. “Dozens of CGT militants got into the building for a few minutes to deploy banners against pension reform. There was no violence and no damage,” as reported by Reuters.
Troubling incidents transpired during the protests. Electricians caused a power outage in much of the Issy-les-Moulineaux business district south of Paris, which is home to several media and tech companies. The headquarters of France Media Monde were also affected by the blackout.
As for transportations, railway company SNCF expects very little disruption, with 9 out of 10 trains running on average, normal traffic in the Paris area is covered by the RATP metro network and a third of flights from Paris Orly airport have been cancelled.
Rennes and the surrounding metropolitan area network bus was disrupted by the closure of fuel depots, said a network operator.
A total of 11,000 police agents are deployed and security forces are on high alert.