France transport strikes paralyze weekend travel
Travel around France was disrupted Saturday as the most serious nationwide strikes in years continue to keep most rail transport from running. Labor unions have warned the walkouts could last into next week.
French train operator SNCF said on Twitter that long distance and local trains were running a skeleton service Saturday at between 5-16%. SNCF also warned of “dangerous” overcrowding at stations and advised against non-essential travel.
SNCF said on its website it expects major disruptions in the French rail network to continue into Monday.
Tourists and shoppers in Paris faced closed Metro stations, with nine lines shut entirely, five partially, and just the driverless 1 and 14 lines running normally.
Partial cancellations were also announced for Eurostar trains to London and Brussels, and Thalys trains into Belgium and Germany.
Civil aviation authorities said that flight schedules returned to normal, after nearly 20% of flights to and from French airports were cancelled Friday.
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France on strike — in pictures
Walkout causes gridlock
Many workers hoped to return to work on Friday. Some commuters opted to hire bicycles and scooters and others took their cars. This led to large traffic jams in French cities. There were nearly 300 kilometers of traffic jams in the Paris region.
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France on strike — in pictures
Transportation grinds to a halt
90% of high-speed trains and 70% of regional trains were cancelled on Friday, the French railway announced. The French civil aviation authority instructed airlines to reduce their Friday flight traffic from central airports to 20%.
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France on strike — in pictures
A fairer system?
Public sector workers are unhappy about a reform that would see France transition to a points-based pension system from its current system that has 42 sector-specific pension schemes. Currently, rail workers, mariners and some ballet dancers can retire up to 10 years earlier than other workers. President Macron said that the proposed system would be fairer for everyone.
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France on strike — in pictures
Pensions debate without movement
Macron’s proposals follow a long tradition of French government pension reform proposals stretching for three decades. Each reform has been met with massive demonstrations and none of the changes has succeeded in simplifying the pension system.
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France on strike — in pictures
United behind a low retirement age
Years of protests against pension reforms have successfully kept the retirement age low. In France, the pension age was raised to 62 years. This is among the lowest in OECD countries, despite being raised from 60 years in 2010 reforms. In Germany, retirement is at 67 years old.
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France on strike — in pictures
Stronger together?
French union leaders are the driving force behind the nationwide strike — but they are not united. The CGT union is the most hardline. It rejects any pension reform proposals and said workers had blocked seven out of eight of the countries oil refineries. The CFDT union is more moderate and is open to the idea of a points-based system.
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France on strike — in pictures
Protests sparked
While the majority of protesting consisted of peaceful marches, masked protesters also vandalized bus stops, smashed shop windows, and threw fireworks at police as demonstrators progressed through Paris on Thursday.
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France on strike — in pictures
Seeing red at pension proposals
The so-called Yellow Vests are known for their direct approach to protesting and have said they would join the strikes. Authorities are bracing themselves for possible violence. The yellow-vest movement has swelled into anti-government and anti-inequality protests. Many see the general strike in France as protecting the country’s social safety net — not just about preserving pensions.
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France on strike — in pictures
Riot police move in
After peaceful protesting escalated to include rioting and damage to public and private property, security forces also intensified their tactics. Riot police charged crowds and fired tear gas to disperse violent demonstrators.
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France on strike — in pictures
Police and protesters clash in Paris
Police clashed with protesters on Thursday in Nantes, Montpellier, Paris as well as other cities. Masked demonstrators started fires, smashed storefronts, and vandalized cars.
Why are workers striking?
Transport workers are angry at French President Emmanuel Macron’s far-reaching pension reform proposals that could phase out the right to early retirement.
Unions say Macron’s proposal for a single, points-based pension system would force millions of people in both the public and private sectors to work well beyond the official retirement age of 62.
Macron says an overhaul is needed to streamline a complex system of 42 special pension plans, and will make the system more fair and financially sustainable.
Read more: France: Police and protesters clash in massive strike over Macron’s pension reform
On Thursday, more than 800,000 people turned out for nationwide demonstrations against the reforms.
A day later, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe defended the pension reforms, and said the French people knew that the current system could not last, and “little by little,” they would also have to work longer.
Riding the wave of Thursday’s turnout, trade unions called for another series of nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday.
The strikes resemble those from the winter of 1995, when three weeks of huge transport stoppages forced a turnaround in social policy by the then-government.
wmr/stb (AFP, dpa)
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