French unions are seeking to reignite resistance to President Emmanuel Macron’s raising of the retirement age with what may be a final surge of nationwide protests and scattered strikes Tuesday. Follow our live blog for the latest updates. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
French President Emmanuel Macron signed the pension reform legislation, which raises the retirement age from 64 to 62, into law in April after the government used a controversial but legal mechanism to avoid a vote in parliament on the bill. French authorities are expecting between 400,000 to 600,000 protesters at 250 sites across the country, including 40,000 to 70,000 in Paris. Around 11,000 security officials have been deployed, including 4,000 in the French capital. Paris police chief Laurent Nu?ez on Monday night said he was expecting “rioters and black blocs” at the demonstrations, referring to people wearing all-black clothing, and police would “disperse them”. The SNCF railway company is expected to be “very slightly disrupted”, with “nine trains out of ten” running on average and “normal” traffic in the Paris region covered by the RATP m?tro network. A third of flights out of Paris-Orly airport have been cancelled. The government is aiming for the pension reform law to come into force on September 1, and is counting on the protests to subside.
3:39pm: Disneyland Paris cast members join strike
Disneyland Paris’ staff member have joined in on the nationwide strike as they continue to demand better working conditions and higher wages.
2:25pm: Lower turnout not ‘a reflection of waning opposition to this bill’, unions say
Reporting from Place des Invalides in central Paris, FRANCE 24’s Carys Garland says turnout for the 14th day of protests against pension reform is expected to be lower than on previous days.
Union members said that a potential dip in turnout is “not necessarily a reflection of waning opposition to this bill”, Garland reports.
“They say they’re here today for the colleagues that couldn’t come. Many of them can’t actually afford to take another day of strikes”.
1:38pm: Pension reform protesters briefly occupy Paris Olympics headquarters
French anti-pension reform protesters briefly occupied the headquarters of the Paris Summer 2024 Olympics Committee in northern Paris on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the games said.
Members of France’s hard-left CGT trade union entered the building but left after a short time, a spokesperson for the Paris Summer Olympics told Reuters.
1:19pm: Power cuts hit media and IT companies in commercial district
Electricians on Tuesday cut power to a large area of Issy-les-Moulineaux, a commercial district south of Paris that is home to several media and IT companies, in protest against the government’s pension reform law passed earlier this year.
The headquarters of Orange and FRANCE 24’s parent company, France M?dias Monde, which includes Radio France Internationale (RFI), were affected by the blackout, which occurred at around 10am Paris time.
8:16am: Bus network disrupted in Rennes due to blockade
The bus network in the northwestern city of Rennes and its surrounding metropolitan area was disrupted on Tuesday morning due to demonstrators opposed to pension reform who blocked fuel depots, said the network operator.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)