Violence erupted across France today as thousands took to the streets to protest against pension reforms. Riot police fought running battles with demonstrators in Paris on a so-called Black Tuesday of industrial action across the country.
According to the Daily Mail, The worst trouble was close to the Port Royal metro station, where hundreds of riot police used tear gas and baton charges. As projectiles rained down on them, bins were set on fire, and bus stops destroyed by so-called Black Bloc anarchists.
Big crowds also took to the streets in Marseille, Nice, and other cities, and trouble was also reported in other major cities including Lyon, Nantes, and Rennes.
A Parisian police spokesperson said ‘radical agitators’ had joined the crowds and accused them of ‘attacking police whenever they can’. ‘A protest march is being heavily policed, and everything is being done to restore law and order,’ he added.
Millions are furious at President Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, bringing France more into line with many of its EU neighbors and the UK, where the state pension age is 66.
As a result, Macron is facing his biggest standoff with France’s trade unions since coming to power in 2017, as his flagship proposal hangs in the balance.
Today marks the sixth day of nationwide strikes since mid-January and could surpass the largest protests so far, with more than 1.27 million gathering on January 31. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said some 11,000 police were mobilized across the country, including some 5000 in Paris alone.
French unions promised the biggest protests yet with trains coming to a halt, fuel deliveries being disrupted and schools shut in response to government plans to raise the pension age. Strikes led to numerous public services and businesses being shut down on Tuesday, including oil refineries.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the hard-Left politician who came third in last year’s presidential election, was among those out on the Paris march. He called for all Left Wing parties to ‘unite, and stand up to the reforms’. Authorities were bracing themselves with at least 260 demonstrations expected across the country, with police anticipating as many as 1.4 million taking part.
‘The strike has begun everywhere… with deliveries blocked from all the refineries this morning,’ said Eric Sellini, branch coordinator for national trade union body CGT.
The group launched a similar blockade last autumn that eventually saw petrol stations running out of fuel.
Transport workers are also striking. A fifth of flights was canceled at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and about a third of flights at Orly Airport, it was reported today.
Thousands of UK travelers have been hit by the disruption, with dozens of flights and trains canceled and ferries were delayed. The government is hoping to rush through the reforms, which it hopes could be adopted by parliament by the end of March, with the changes slated to come into force in September.
The law also stiffens the requirements for a full pension and would abolish privileges enjoyed by some public-sector employees, such as those at the Paris Metro.
After initially claiming it was intended to make the system fairer, Macron’s government has now conceded the move is designed to increase savings.