Tag: Yellow Jackets

French unions vow further protests on 10th general strike against Macron’s pension plans

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PARIS — French unions vowed to continue demonstrations next week amid another day of protests Tuesday against French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reforms — the 10th general strike this year.
Clashes broke out between small groups of protesters and police, especially in Paris, where some people also ransacked a supermarket. But the number of protesters also decreased almost everywhere in the country compared to last week, according to estimates by both French authorities and unions. Around 730,000 people protested in total, compared to more than 1 million last Thursday, according to the French interior ministry. Estimates by trade union CGT, meanwhile, calculated that the number of protesters declined from 3.5 million last week to approximately 2 million on Tuesday.
But Parisians can expect some relief for their noses Wednesday when garbage collectors are set to resume work after weeks of a strike that has left piles of rubbish stacked along streets.
The protests have been running since the beginning of the year, prompted by Macron’s plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and increase the level of contributions required to receive a full pension. Discontent mounted earlier this month when the government decided to force the measures through parliament without a vote, raising concerns that the protests could turn into a broader anti-government movement like the Yellow Jackets, which brought months of unrest during Macron’s first term in office.
The strikes on Tuesday hit sectors including public transport and schools as well as energy plants and oil refineries, causing fuel shortages.
But Macron’s administration has not shown signs that it will revise the reforms. Government spokesperson Olivier Véran on Tuesday rejected a proposal by the CFDT union to put the measures on ice and find a mediator to resolve the situation.
But Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has invited union representatives to meet at the beginning of next week for talks, according to CFDT leader Laurent Berger.
“The anger begins to rise, even among the most peaceful protesters,” Berger told broadcaster TMC Tuesday evening after protests died down.

Major trade unions are still planning a further day of strikes and protests next Thursday.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 28, 2023
France braces for another day of mayhem and violence

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PARIS — France is bracing for fresh chaos Tuesday with a day of protests planned against Emmanuel Macron’s detested pensions reform, and trade unions calling for a general strike.
Protests last Thursday descended into turmoil with clashes between police and protesters, and scenes of violence across the country. In the wake of the unrest, which resulted in more than 450 arrests, the French president was forced to cancel a state visit by King Charles III amid security concerns.
Public transport, universities, schools and public services are expected to be disrupted again Tuesday. The impact of the industrial action is being felt across all sectors and areas of public life. A rolling strike of waste collectors in Paris has meant that trash is still piled high in parts of the French capital, and a strike at refineries has led to fuel shortages at some petrol pumps.

Despite widespread unrest, the French president pledged last week that he would not backtrack on the pensions reform which raises the age of retirement to 64 from 62, saying it was “necessary” for the country to balance the books of its generous pensions scheme.
The French government sparked outrage when it invoked article 49.3 of the French constitution to pass its pensions reform, in a controversial move that bypassed a vote in parliament it was expected to lose. The government narrowly survived two motions of no confidence in the National Assembly after the controversial move.
Tuesday’s protest could be an indicator of whether Macron’s inflexibility whips up more discontent on the street or whether the protest movement is starting to subside. French police have been accused of using heavy-handed tactics and it is likely that students and pupils will join protests in greater numbers. On Saturday, a man was left in a critical condition after clashes with police at a French water reservoir project.
Stalemate over pensions reform
Ahead of the protests on Tuesday, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called for talks with trade unions and announced she would no longer use article 49.3 except when it comes to budgetary measures.
“Obviously there are tensions over the reform, we need to listen,” she told AFP on Sunday. “[We need] to calm the country and give the French some answers promptly.”
A demonstration of Totalenergies striking employees outside the Gronfreville-l’Orcher refinery | Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images
However, talks between the government and trade unions over the pensions reforms are at a standstill. Macron has said he is open to discussing a range of issues including working conditions, pay and work-related strain, but not the pensions reform. Trade unions say they would agree to talks only if the government agreed to re-examine the legal age of retirement.
With no clear way out and in the wake of a string of violent incidents over the last weeks, there are fears within the trade unions that France may be facing a socio-political crisis similar to the Yellow Jackets movement that rocked the country in 2018-2019.
Trade union leader Laurent Berger warned Monday that France was in “a total state of tension.”
“There is a common will [with the government] to find an exit for this protest movement and not descend into a madness that might take hold of the country, with violence and resentment,” he warned in an interview with French channel France 2.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 23, 2023
Macron pays high price in popularity over pension reform, survey shows

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Emmanuel Macron is paying a high price for his push on pension reform as a survey on Sunday showed the French president is facing a new low in popularity — as low as during the protests of the so-called Yellow Jackets.
As the French take to the streets to protest against Macron’s pension reform, 70 percent of respondents said they are dissatisfied with the president, according to the Ifop barometer published by Le Journal du Dimanche. Macron’s popularity rating fell by 4 points in one month, it showed.
Since December, Macron has suffered a substantial drop of 8 points, and he now sees only 28 percent satisfied and 70 percent dissatisfied, according to the poll carried out, Le Figaro emphasized, between March 9 and 16.
That is the same period as the negotiations that finally led the Elysée to shun parliament and impose the unpopular pension reforms via a special constitutional power, the so-called Article 49.3, which provides that the government can pass a bill without a vote at the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, after a deliberation at a Cabinet meeting.
The procedure has been used in the past by various governments. But this time it’s prompting a lot of criticism because of the massive public opposition to the proposed reform, which raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years. Some media stress that recent opinion polls have shown that a majority of the French are opposed to this type of procedure.
“You have to go back to the end of the Yellow Jackets crisis in early 2019 to find comparable levels of unpopularity,” writes Le Journal du Dimanche commenting the survey. The outlet also stresses that dissatisfaction with Macron crosses all categories, the younger generations as well as the blue- and white-collar workers.
A total of 169 people, including 122 in Paris, were taken in custody for questioning on Saturday evening in France during demonstrations marred by tensions between the police and the protesters, according to French media citing figures communicated on Sunday by the Ministry of the Interior.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 15, 2023