The strikers blocked this tuesday the fuel output at all refineries in Franceas well as the circulation on access roads of some cities in a day of strikes and demonstrations which is expected to force the Government to reverse its rpension reform.
“The objective is for the Government to withdraw its reform project”repeated the general secretary of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Philippe Martinezin an interview this morning to the radio station French Infoin which he emphasized that with this sixth day of protests, “a new phase” has been entered.
Martínez, leader of the country’s second central, stressed that the common motto of all unions in this new phase that opens today is “paralyze the country”.
That means – he specified – disturbances in transport, electricity, gas, garbage collection but also “strikes in the private sector”.
Asked about the extension of the strikes on Wednesday and the following days, Martínez specified that it is not he who decides, but the workers of each company. But at the same time he verified that this has already been voted for, for example, in the railway company SNCFin energy or in ports.
Above all, he stressed that the responsibility lies with the Government that “provokes the social movement” by turning a deaf ear to the “91% of the workers, who say that it is not a good reform”.
The President’s Executive Bill Emmanuel Macronwhich is undergoing parliamentary proceedings -currently in the Senate-, provides in particular for the delay of the minimum retirement age of 62 years currently to 64 and an acceleration of the extension of the contribution period that gives the right to a full pension up to 43 years.
About 320 demonstrations are convened today throughout France, where the police intelligence services are waiting between 1.1 and 1.4 million people. That is to say, that the 1.27 million of January 31 could be exceeded (always according to the Ministry of the Interior), which until now has been the most massive.
The strikes are becoming very noticeable in public transport. The SNCF has had to cancel on average the 80% of high speed trains (TGV) and practically all other conventional long-distance trains.
On international lines, there is no service on the Paris-Barcelona corridor or on the lines between France and Germany; only one return train on the links with Italy, and a twenty% of the usual ones in connections with Switzerland.
Two thirds of the Eurostars with London operate and also two thirds of the Thalys that go from Paris to Brussels. In the vicinity of Paris, depending on the lines, there are between a third and a fifth of the usual convoys. In the capital’s metro there is only normal service on the two automatic lines, 1 and 14. The others are barely at half throttle and only at peak hours.
In air transport, the controllers’ strike has forced the abolition of the 20% of the flights in Charles de Gaulle and 30% at the other airport in Paris, as well as at Beauvais, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice and Toulouse.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com