Mountains of garbage on the streets of Paris, rail traffic “strongly affected”, all Total refineries continue on strike… French unions have failed to block the French economybut the functioning of the neighboring country continues to be altered by the wave of protests and work stoppages against pension reform. France experienced another day of protests across the countrywhile unlimited strikes continue in the SNCF railway company, fuel refineries and garbage collection, among other sectors.
The more than one million peopleaccording to the unions, and 368,000, according to the police, demonstrated this Saturday throughout the French territory. represented the eighth day of mobilizations —in four of them, there were around a million demonstrators, according to the rather austere data of the security forces— against the unpopular increase in the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years (with 42 or 43 years contributing to receive a full board).
“I’m afraid it will go to the end & rdquor;
The protests this Saturday were the least crowded since the beginning of this intense social pulse between the unions and the Government of Emmanuel Macron. A decrease in participation that, in part, is explained by the fact that opponents of the text had concentrated their efforts on the general strike on Tuesday, which brought together 1.28 million protesters, according to security forces. Since the French police began reporting numbers of protesters in 1962, they had never reported such a large number of people on the streets in a union strike. Not even in May ’68.
After the “historic & rdquor; on March 7, the unions tried to keep up the pressure with the more than 200 protests this Saturday, convened on the weekend with the aim of getting workers from the private sector to join them, where it is more difficult to go on strike. This was the case of Fanny, 33, who works for a social and solidarity economy association. “I have come with my mother who is 60 years old and she will be fully impacted by the measure & rdquor ;, explained to EL PERIÓDICO this Parisian who was demonstrating for the first time against the reform, rejected by 68% of the French, according to the latest polls.
“The government pretends to listen to us, but I’m afraid it will go all the way and approve the reform without making concessions to the unions,” Fanny acknowledged, from the front rows of the demonstration in the French capital. Like many of the protesters, she expressed her rejection of the measure and in general against the right-wing economic policies of the centrist Executive, but she was little hopeful about the possibility of stopping the unpopular measure. 78% of the French believe that in the end the measure will be approvedaccording to a recent survey by the Elabe institute.
Despite facing the most massive social mobilization in recent decades in France, Macron remains adamant. After being asked to meet him at the Élysée by the union union coalition – made up of all the unions, something very unusual in France – the president responded on Friday with a negative response, with words as polite as they were blunt: “We have to respect parliamentary time& rdquor ;.
Garbage mountains in Paris
The measure is currently being debated in the Senate, where it could be voted on Sunday afternoon. Next week he will return to the National Assembly. There the Executive does not have the guarantee of having an absolute majority of deputies favorable to the text, above all, due to the high number of dissidents in the ranks of Los Republicanos (LR, related to the PP). In fact, the Government does not rule out resorting to the controversial article 49.3 and adopting the reform without a parliamentary vote. An option that would open the door for the different opposition groups to promote a motion of no confidence, something that is currently being speculated on in the French press.
“We have a president who belittles the aspirations of his people,” criticized Laurence Finel, 52, a researcher who carried a banner comparing Macron to Napoleon. “I am very afraid in the face of the next presidential elections, that the French will take revenge with their ballot paper and that this will benefit Marine Le Pen’s extreme right,” acknowledged Christine Laurin, 52, a childcare provider who voted for Macron in the first round of 2017 and that he did not use to demonstrate, but now he does not miss a protest.
Since Tuesday, the garbage collection service began an unlimited strike in Paris. This is how the streets are right now in the French capital #Greve #Retraites pic.twitter.com/Z0TMN1QsOB
— Enric Bonet (@EnricQuart) March 11, 2023
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The pulse for the pension reform entered its final stretch. In the absence of social dialogue, the unions have resorted to unlimited strikes, although these depend on what the workers in each company or sector decide and are limited to some sectors. Unlike what happened in the 2019 mobilizations, against another attempt by Macron to reform the French retirement system, its impact is not being as important in transport, especially in the Paris metro, which circulates with a certain normality. Instead, It is becoming especially noticeable in garbage collection in the French capital, in whose streets more than 5,000 tons accumulate.
“It is necessary to organize more actions to block the economy,” asks Roland Lemyre, 60, a local manager in the health sector of the combative CGT. “Even if the reform is approved, we will continue to demonstrate. Until it comes into force we are not going to give up & rdquor ;, he warned.