Protests, strikes, fuel shortages as pensions fury rages in France

PARIS: French citizens protested and downed tools again on Thursday, with transport and refineries grinding to a halt as anger over a deeply unpopular pensions reform showed no sign of abating.

As thousands took to the streets in protest, planes landing at Paris airports faced potential fuel shortages, rubbish kept piling up, and questions hung over a looming state visit by King Charles III.

A defiant President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that he was prepared to accept unpopularity over imposing a bill raising the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 because it was “necessary” and “in the general interest of the country”.

Acting on Macron’s instructions, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invoked an article in the constitution a week ago to adopt the reform without a parliamentary vote.

The government on Monday narrowly survived a no-confidence motion, but the outrage has spawned the biggest domestic crisis of Macron’s second term.

Thursday’s protests were the latest in a string of nationwide stoppages that began in mid-January against the pension changes.

In Paris, 61-year-old speech therapist Laurence Briens said she had joined thousands in the streets because she was angry with the way the reform had been adopted.

“It’s as if we’re being treated like children,” she said.

School teacher Cedric Nothias, 46, held up a sign that read: “How does one teach democracy when Macron is trampling all over it?” Thousands more people protested in the western city of Rennes, with one holding up a sign reading: “I want to grow old with my lover, not with my boss.”

Most protesters in the city were peaceful, but several clashed with police forces, destroying shop fronts or throwing projectiles at the security forces, who responded with teargas and water cannons. In the southern city of Marseille, Marine Danaux, 43, and her son were among thousands marching.

“I think it’s important to bring him so he realises what’s going on,” she said.

A survey on Sunday showed Macron’s personal approval rating at just 28 percent, its lowest level since the anti-government “Yellow Vest” protest movement in 2018-2019.

Earlier on Thursday, demonstrators briefly occupied the train tracks at the capital’s Gare de Lyon train station, causing delays.

Protesters blocked road access to the Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris, French television footage showed.