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Strikes in France brought trains to a standstill and protesters flooded the streets, with clashes with police in some cities on Thursday after President Emmanuel Macron vowed to implement legislation raising the retirement age.
Transport workers, teachers and workers across the country marched against the Pensions Act, which raises the minimum retirement age by two years to 64. In cities like Bordeaux, Rennes and Nantes, riot police tussled with protesters while people chanted and lit torches in front of the Gare du Nord train station in Paris.
Unions are trying to increase pressure on the government a day after Macron gave a TV interview that stoked their anger. Stressing the pensions overhaul is the best way to secure the future of France’s generous pension system, partly due to rising life expectancy, the president said opponents had to face reality.
Macron defends raising retirement age as protests rock France
The government’s use of executive powers to enforce the bill has heightened tensions with unions, which have drawn huge crowds since January but have so far been unable to persuade Macron to change course.
Rail workers marched on the platforms at Paris’s Gare de Lyon and Marseille train station on Thursday, where the local rail workers’ union vowed to block the operation of trains until the pension plan is withdrawn.
The country’s Civil Aviation Authority warned of disruptions to flights to and from airports for Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux and Lyon, urging passengers to postpone their journey and contact the airlines.
Outside Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, demonstrators blocked a highway leading to one of the terminals of one of Europe’s busiest airports. The blockade forced some travelers to reach the airport on foot, French broadcaster BFM TV reported.
Transport Minister Clement Beaune announced that the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles were closed as tourist attractions tweeted that officers met at a crisis center to monitor disruptions to public transport “hour by hour.”
Rolling strikes have also disrupted access to refineries, and strikes by garbage collectors this month left heaps of garbage bags on Parisian sidewalks.
Thursday’s industrial action drew people of all ages, backgrounds and occupations, with young people marching shoulder to shoulder with older protesters who were nearing retirement age.
The Department of Education estimated that about a quarter of middle school teachers and about 15 percent of high school teachers went on strike. Students joined the cityS including Nantes, where a protester held up a sign that read ‘Signmakers on strike’. Another strike sign showed a drawing of a skeleton with the inscription “Long live retirement.”
Photos and video from Nantes and Rennes in western France showed police using water cannon and tear gas and protesters setting garbage on fire.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said he ordered the deployment of nearly 12,000 police officers on Thursday, including 5,000 in Paris. Some earlier protests have led to clashes with police, who have arrested dozens of people in recent days, although few have ultimately been charged.
After the government passed the pension law without a vote by the lower house of parliament last week, the text now faces review by the constitutional council. However, Macron says the law should come into force by the end of the year.
With his government surviving two no-confidence votes this week, the question is whether Macron’s determination can outlast the unions’ ability to press the streets.
“Yesterday the President of the Republic mocked us” said Marie Buissona senior CGT official who is at the center of the strikes.
“We will continue”, even if the bill is approved, “because what we oppose is this reform that forces everyone to work two extra years,” she said on the radio. “You can clearly see the enormous anger out there.”
France protests: what to know as Macron forces raising retirement age
CGT’s Marseille branch said it estimated that 280,000 people protested in the southern port city alone on Thursday, while French media quoted police as giving a much lower estimate of 16,000 demonstrators in Marseille.
Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt called The authorities did not deny the crisis but hoped to solve it. “There are many issues that could allow for a renewal of dialogue,” he said, including how companies share profits with workers.
“I don’t think at all that we could go from a state of conflict to an Entente in 12 to 24 hours from one day to the next,” he added. “Things will be done gradually.”