This archive report was first published on 6 December 2019.
December 6, 2019
France's pension reform has sparked a second day of massive strikes, with thousands of workers and students taking to the streets to protest the proposed changes.
According to SNCF, the country's rail operator, 90 percent of high-speed TGV trains were cancelled, while several airlines, including Air France, EasyJet, and Ryanair, dropped flights.
Nine of the capital's 16 metro lines were shut, and most others were severely disrupted, causing over 350 kilometres of traffic jams in the Paris region, more than double the usual amount, according to Sytadin.
Many employees were unable to get to work, and several schools provided only daycare, although fewer teachers were on strike compared to the previous day, when around 800,000 people demonstrated across the country, according to the interior ministry.
As a result, bike paths were crowded with bikes and electric scooters, with metro operator RATP sponsoring special deals for commuters with ride-hailing companies and other transportation alternatives.
The strike is the latest test for President Emmanuel Macron, who has faced months of protests from various groups, including teachers, hospital workers, police, and firefighters, as well as the 'yellow vest' movement demanding improved living standards.
Unions argue that Macron's 'universal' pension system, which would eliminate dozens of separate plans for public workers, forces millions of people in both public and private sectors to work beyond the legal retirement age of 62.
Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said the government had 'heard' the protesters' anger and would meet with union leaders to discuss the reform on Monday.
However, the government has yet to lay out the details of its plan, and Buzyn told Europe 1 radio that 'there is indeed a discussion going on about who will be affected, what age it kicks in, which generations will be concerned -- all that is still on the table.'
Yves Veyrier, head of the hardline FO union, warned that the strike could last at least until Monday if the government did not take the right action.
But it remains to be seen if the protests will match the magnitude of the 1995 strikes against pension overhauls, when France was paralysed for three weeks from November to December in an action that forced the government to back down.
