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Several sectors in France, such as public transport, schools, electricity production, oil refineries, and government media, witnessed paralysis on Tuesday, after a second day of popular mobilization was decided against a draft government decision to raise the retirement age to 64 years instead of 62 years. The trade unions, who called for the strike, hope that the high turnout will be repeated, similar to the first protest on January 19.
Cause a second strike on a level France In disrupting electricity production, public transport and schools Tuesday, in a backlash against government plans to raise retirement age.
The unions, who have scheduled protest marches across France throughout the day, want to maintain pressure on the government and hope a repeat of the high turnout seen in the first protest on January 19.
On that day, more than a million marched to oppose raising the retirement age to 64 from 62 and accelerating the plan to raise the age eligible for a full pension.
Only one in three of the high-speed TGV trains were running on Tuesday and fewer local and regional trains, with the Paris metro severely disrupted.
The primary school teachers union said half of the teachers would go on strike, as would oil refinery employees and workers in other sectors, including state broadcasters that broadcast music instead of news programmes.
French energy supplies fell 4.4 percent, or 2.9 gigawatts, as workers at nuclear reactors and thermal power plants joined the strike, according to data from the EDF group.
Total Energy said no petroleum products were being delivered from its sites in France due to the strike, adding that petrol stations were fully supplied and customers’ needs were being met.
Opinion polls show that most French people oppose reform, but President Emmanuel Macron and his government intend to stick to their position. Macron said Monday that the reform is “essential” to ensure the continuation of the work of the pension system.
“This reform is unfair and cruel,” said Luc Farr, general secretary of the National Confederation of Independent Unions of Civil Servants. “Raising the retirement age to 64 represents a social regression.”
The Ministry of Labor estimates that raising the retirement age by two years and extending the payment period would generate 17.7 billion euros ($19.18 billion) in annual pension contributions, allowing the system to balance by 2027.
Unions say there are other ways to achieve this, such as taxing the super-rich or asking employers or better-off retirees to contribute more.
France 24/Archyde.com