Employees of the electricity sector left without power this Thursday the works of the Olympic city and the Stade de France in Saint Denisto the north of Paristo protest against the pension reform in Francethe union reported CGT.
“The action deprived of energy the olympic villagethe neighborhood at the level of the commercial zone, the data centers and also the stadium of france”, he declared to the press Sebastien Menesplierresponsible for the energy branch of the CGT.
The action, which also affected the gas supply, is part of the protests against the president’s project Emmanuel Macron to delay the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 and to increase the contribution required for a full pension.
“In the face of a firm government, we are also firm (…) I call for the responsibility of the government and the president: Withdraw your reform and the electricians and gas workers will return to work for public service and the general interest,” he added.
About 300 workers were present for this action. Some of them, hooded, raised their arms and lit smoke flares to hide those who cut the current and protect them from the eyes and cameras.
Unions intensified their struggle on Tuesday with extendable strikes and more media action, after five days of peaceful mass protests in January and February failed to get the government to reverse its unpopular reform.
But time is pressing for the opponents. The government used a controversial procedure that limited the time for parliamentary debate and allows it to apply the reform as of March 26, if the two chambers of Parliament have not been able to vote on it.
Paris must welcome the Olympic Games in July and August 2024. The French State of Saint-Denis will host sports such as athletics and rugby.
In addition, a hundred people with emblems of the French unions have blocked the Le Perthu tollbooth in both directions since early mornings, next to the Spanish border, which began to generate queues of cars and other vehicles, within the protests against the pension reform.
a photographer of EPA was able to verify that the blockade began around 8:00 local time (7:00 GMT) and that with the passage of time the waiting lines on both sides of the toll booth increased.
The forces of order were present, but did not intervene, at least at first.
Different actions of this type have been organized in France since the beginning of the week, especially in logistics centers and in communication junctions on the access roads to large cities, to put pressure on the Government and force it to withdraw its pension reform bill, which delays the minimum age of retirement age 62 currently to 64.
Tuesday was the sixth day of mobilization since January organized by all the unions in the country against this project, which is now continuing its parliamentary process in the Senateand it was the most massive in terms of protesters.
Although the power plants failed to paralyze the country that day, as they had announced, strikes continue in various sectors, particularly public transport and energy.
Since the beginning of the week, the strikers have prevented the output of fuel from the refineries and this Wednesday 7% of the country’s gas stations lacked some type of fuel, although the employers of the sector try to downplay that figure.
The president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries (UFIP), Olivier Gantoisexplained today in statements to the France Info station that apart from the strikes, “permanently” there are gas stations that are not supplied with any fuel.
Gantois insisted, above all, that “there is no fuel supply problem in France” and, in a message to consumers, he asked them not to fill up their tanks if it is not necessary.
As in previous days, the strikes are being felt today in particular with dozens of flights canceled at the country’s main airports and with very few trains: two thirds of high-speed trains (TGV) have been cancelled, 60% of regional ones and up to 80%, depending on the lines, in the vicinity of Paris.
No train runs this Thursday, as already happened on Tuesday and Wednesday, in the Paris-Barcelona corridor.
This past midnight, the French Senate adopted the most important article of the pension reform bill, which delays the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64, thanks to the right-wing majority in the upper house.
(With information from AFP)
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Source-www.infobae.com