New protests against raising the retirement age

After the failure of the last meeting with the government, French unions will once again face the controversial pension reform approved by Emmanuel Macron’s executive, which they hope will be new mass mobilization in the streetsthe eleventh of January.

The day is expected to be decisive in maintaining the pressure, while we wait decision of the Constitutional Councilthe body for interpreting France’s Magna Carta, which must approve or disapprove the law on April 14, after it was approved on March 16 without a vote in parliament.

In anticipation of this verdict, the Government has currently shown itself to be inflexible in terms of maintaining the text that has as its central axis postponement of the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years.

We must be numerous to demand the withdrawal of this unjust reform and bring the mobilization to the end, until the Government realizes that there is no other way out but to withdraw the text, he summarized. the new leader of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Sophie Binetat the end of the unsuccessful inter-union meeting with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.

The latter, on the contrary, chose a more conciliatory tone after the meeting and assured that he would still be “always available” for a conversation.

The the frequency of strikes and the level of attendance at demonstrations may offer a new thermometer about whether the social pulse will manage to maintain its intensity, despite the attempts of the executive to turn the page and calm the country.

It can also be a turning point for testing union capacity continue the battle as a united front.

“The only solution is for (the reform) to stop,” he pointed out Laurent Berger, General Secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT)who promised that although there are differences among the unions, there is unity around the frontal opposition to delaying the minimum retirement age.

From the very beginning, the mobilization will turn into strikes in sectors such as education and public transportsuch as trains and public transport, although they will not be as intense as on previous occasions.

Metro traffic will be normal in Paris on most lines and in the vicinity you will see that the frequencies are partially reduced.

As for flights, airports such as Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes will cut regular journeys by 20%but Paris’s Orly, which has been badly affected on other occasions, will not have to cancel trips.

Also difficulties continue in the fuel sectordespite the forced mobilization of workers this week to alleviate supply problems, the situation could improve in the coming days.