After the government’s no-confidence vote narrowly failed, resistance to pension reform is spreading. The president broke his silence on Wednesday.
At France’s most important oil port, in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille, unionists blocked access to the fuel depot and refinery in protest against the authorities’ order to recruit strikers. The police tried to violently expel the protesters with tear gas. In Marseille, former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from leftist France Insoumise, called on his supporters to support the strikers’ fight. Tensions are rising ahead of the next day of action on March 23.
Resistance to the unpopular pension reform is turning into a political and social crisis in France. For days, people demonstrated in various cities at night, mostly in spontaneous rallies – despite bans on demonstrations in several places. Police are accused of firing tear gas grenades at unannounced protesters in several cities.