First modification:
Roadblocks, closure of some schools and shops and interruptions in train services are experienced by several cities in France this Thursday, March 23, on the ninth day of strikes and protests after the approval by decree of the pension reform. The declarations of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, a day before, to defend the amendment have not calmed the spirits and the unions are considering extending the mobilizations even more.
The unions once again march massively in France against the pension reform. This is the ninth day of the strike in recent months and, on this occasion, the exit is made after the law has been accepted and the government of Emmanuel Macron has managed to survive two motions of censure raised by the opposition.
In addition, the president’s words in an interview broadcast nationally, where he reaffirmed his positions, have not gone down well with the unions.
Macron resists any type of modification or dialogue with the unions after having approved the amendment by means of a decree law and without having been voted on in the National Assembly, the Lower House of Parliament.
The measure was endorsed on March 16 through the use of article 49.3 of the Constitution, a mechanism widely criticized by a large part of society, which has even called for the resignation of the Executive or a referendum to be able to vote on this pension reform , which contemplates an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The union mobilization began to be felt from the early hours of this Thursday morning in key sectors of transport, education or energy. The strategy continues to be the same on the part of these mobilizations: to paralyze the country to redouble the pressure on the Government to yield.
High monitoring of the ninth day of strike
In total, around 300 demonstrations have been called throughout the country, in which between 600,000 and 800,000 people are expected to mobilize. The great march has been called in Paris, where more than 5,000 police officers are deployed and where scenes of chaos have already been recorded for days due to spontaneous riots and the accumulation of garbage on the streets of many districts due to the strike of the garbage collectors.
Since the beginning of the day, the most affected sector is transport, whether by road, plane or train. Dozens of workers have blocked the access roads to the Parisian Roissy-Charles De Gaulle airport since morning, forcing some travelers to arrive on foot.
Likewise, the strike by air traffic controllers has forced the early cancellation of 30% of the flights at the Parisian airport of Orly and 20% at those of Marseille, Toulouse and Lyon.
To this we must add that the General Directorate of Civil Aviation confirmed that these strikes among controllers could continue to extend over the weekend and informed the airlines that they are prepared to reduce their flights, just on dates close to the weekend holidays. Santa.
The transport strike also affects high-speed trains, since only half of them run, and medium- and short-distance trains, which operate in even lower quotas. As far as the metro is concerned, in cities like Paris, only the lines that are automatic and do not have a driver work.
Fuel shortages, a strategy to increase pressure
The roadblocks have been focused on the key exit areas for goods, especially fuel. The surroundings of the refineries have presented cuts by the workers, who have come to organize pickets with burning tires.
The Ministry of Energy Transition announced this Thursday that “in view of the supply tensions in certain departments” it has decided to extend for another 48 hours the obligation to return to work for some employees of the warehouses in the port of Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseilles. In this region, more than 65% of the fuel supply stations lack gasoline or diesel.
This obligation affects three workers for each shift. The minister, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, affirmed that “the Government follows the situation hour by hour and department by department” and assured that this obligation is “selective to unlock the deposits that are blocked by protesters.” Despite this, unions such as the CGT will continue to prevent these selected workers from going to their jobs.
It is true that the shortage does not affect all regions equally, but it does so with special force on the Mediterranean coast. The official data provided shows that at the state level, 17.9% of gas stations lack one of the two most used fuels and 8.8% lack both. Data that have increased compared to last Monday, March 20.
The blockade is also strong at the Gonfreville refinery facilities in Normandy, in charge of processing all of the country’s kerosene, the fuel that is used to run planes and whose absence could also affect air traffic.
Emmanuel Macron already announced that the rule was scheduled to come into force by the end of this year and acknowledged that, although the measure was unpopular, it was “totally necessary for the viability of the pension system.”
The president ruled out any type of change in his government team and regretted that the union force had refused to negotiate the rule and only wanted to eliminate it.
The law has been appealed by several political parties with the aim of challenging it through the courts, but until now it will go ahead after having been approved through extra-parliamentary channels.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
#France #lives #ninth #day #general #strike #pension #reform