France lives a new day of protests throughout the country against Macron’s pension reform

new day of nationwide strikes and protests in France against the project of pension reform. A mobilization that is expected to be as broad as that of January 19 and for which a reinforced police force with up to 11,000 agents is planned throughout the country, 4,000 of them only in Paris, given the fear of the Government that small groups of violent radicals can cause riots.

More than two million people, according to the unions -1.1 million, according to the Executive-, supported the massive protest two weeks ago throughout France and the objective of the unions is to achieve a similar or even greater mobilization in the 240 marches summoned for this Tuesday.

The monitoring of the strike will be especially important in the transportation since only a third of the high-speed trains will circulate, on average. On international rail lines there will be almost normal traffic on the Eurostars to London and on the Thalys to Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, but instead the two trains in each direction of the Paris-Barcelona corridor have been cancelled.

It will also be very difficult to travel by public transport in the metropolitan area of ​​the capital, since, depending on the lines, between two thirds and 90% of the commuter trains have been abolished. The metro will only work at half throttle but the buses will be less affected.

For their part, the air traffic controller strikes have forced the cancellation of 20% of flights to or from the Parisian airport of Orly. In the case of Air France, this will result in the suppression of 10% of its flights for the day, although the airline has chosen to preserve all long-haul flights and none of its routes with Spain will be affected either.

Rejection of the pension reform

With this new day of mobilizations, the unions intend to force the French government to withdraw its reform, which provides for delay the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years and advance to 2027 the extension to 43 years (currently 42) of the contribution period necessary to collect the full pension.

They have public opinion on their side, as all polls show a very majority opposition of the French to the project (61% according to a poll published this Tuesday in ‘Les Echos’). A rejection that in general terms has not diminished since the Government presented its project on January 10, even despite the multiplication of appearances by members of the Executive in the media to defend that this reform is necessary to ensure the solidity of the system of medium and long-term pensions.

In favor of the Executive, a majority of the French have no intention of mobilizing to prevent the reform (73%, according to a survey last week). Despite the pressure, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Bornemade it clear last Sunday in an interview that the two star measures of the reform (the delay in the minimum retirement age and the increase in the contribution period) are something that “It is not negotiable”.

The text has begun to be studied this Monday in commission in the National Assembly, where the parties of the left and the extreme right are opposed, although the government bloc hopes to receive the necessary support from the conservatives to move it forward.