“Putting France into a dead end”: the demonstrators lie down…

In several French cities, unions have called for strikes against the pension reform planned by President Macron.

With another day of strikes on Tuesday, France’s trade unions want to put pressure on the government over a planned pension reform. According to various calls, the protest must “stop France”. Gatherings are planned again in several cities. In addition, major train and air traffic disruptions are expected. Suspension of work in schools, the energy sector and waste disposal. All refineries were also banned.

“No products were shipped from the refineries,” CGT union leader Eric Cellini told AFP on Tuesday. TotalEnergies has confirmed that there is currently no fuel shortage as all petrol stations have filled their depots.

French Railways has reported failures of about 80 percent of its long-distance trains. In Paris and other major cities, local public transport has been greatly disrupted. Lessons have been canceled in many schools. Between 20 and 30 percent of flights must be cancelled.

Raising the retirement age to 64

“We must not give up, we can still convince the government to give up the 64-year-old again,” CFDT union president Laurent Berger told LCI. One of the main points of the reform currently being discussed in the Senate is to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. “More people will take to the streets, I’m sure of that,” Berger said.

About 265 demonstrations are planned nationwide. In Paris, the protest march starts at two in the afternoon in the south of the city. According to official figures, as many as 1.27 million people took to the streets in previous days of protest, and unions spoke of 2.5 million participants in the demonstrations. Both sides are anxiously awaiting whether the movement will increase or decrease.

In addition to raising the retirement age, France’s central government wants to increase the number of years required to pay a full pension more quickly. Reform is one of the central projects of President Emmanuel Macron.

Those who have not been paid for a long time work longer

The retirement age in France is currently 62 years. In fact, retirement starts later on average: those who haven’t paid wages long enough to be entitled to a full pension for longer. At age 67, there will be a no-deductible pension, no matter how long it’s been paid for – the government wants to keep that. You want to increase your minimum monthly pension to around 1,200 euros.

(APA / dpa / AFP)