A new day of protests is underway ahead of a crucial court decision on the French pension reform.
With momentum clearly waning and employees reluctant to give up salary for what seems like a losing cause, it remains to be seen whether unions will call more strikes if the reform is approved by the Constitutional Council.
FRANCE — Another day of protests is taking place across France on Thursday, April 13, against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform, ahead of a crucial court ruling.
Nationally, police expected around 400,000-600,000 people to participate, less than half the 1.3 million who protested against raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 in March. As expected around 1,500 anarchist and radical protesters gathered in Paris, while cities such as Nantes and Rennes are still at risk of clashes.
In Toulouse, southwestern France on April 13, 2023, protesters and labor union members march during a demonstration against the pension reform.
The majority of trains are running at the state rail operator SNCF and the Paris public transportation provider RATP, past bastions of strike activity. The DGAC aviation authority has asked carriers to reduce flights to Nantes, Bordeaux and Toulouse airports by 20 percent - a drastic change from the past.
However, the hard-left CGT union is calling for new strikes by refinery workers and rubbish collectors. In March, the streets of Paris were heaving with garbage. According to AFP, workers blocked the Feyzin refinery's entrance for two hours on Thursday before police intervened. A rubbish incinerator outside Paris was also blocked.
Throughout the country, police and protesters scuffled, and demonstrators also stormed the headquarters of French luxury goods firm LVMH.
A ruling on the legality of the bill is expected from the Constitutional Council, the country's highest authority on constitutional law. "The decision from the Constitutional Council on Friday will bring an end to the democratic and constitutional procedures," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on Wednesday, adding that public debate "will continue, for sure".
Macron anticipates that if the Council approves the changes - and ministers are privately confident that it will - he will sign them into law as soon as possible, allowing them to enter into force before the end of 2023.
After repeatedly avoiding requests for talks with union leaders in recent weeks, the 45-year-old said he would invite labor representatives to meet after the court's decision is published. "I know that traces of our current disagreements will remain, but I will do it (call for talks) in a spirit of concord and with the desire to look to the future, whatever decision is announced," he added.
There is still the question as to whether unions will call more strikes after the law is approved, with momentum clearly waning and employees reluctant to give up on their salaries for what appears to be a losing cause.
On Labour Day, May 1, unions are considering calling for mass demonstrations either across the country or in Paris, depending upon the outcome of the court's decision.
In his remarks in the Netherlands, Macron related the pension changes to France's need to control public expenditures and to his agenda for greater economic cooperation among the European Union countries. "I'm proud of the French social model and I defend it, but if we want to make it sustainable we have to produce more," he said. "We have to re-industrialize the country. We have to decrease unemployment and we have to increase the quantity of work being delivered in the country. This pension reform is part of it."
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