France workers have on Saturday set out to protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform plans, the seventh movement since its announcement.
This is happening alongside the ongoing strike in the nation affecting refineries, public transport and the collection of garbage, Reuters reported.
It was reported that the protest started at 10 a.m in the streets of major cities including Toulouse and Nice. Meanwhile, a protest in Paris is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
Since the protest movement began at the end of January, a coalition of French unions has maintained a rare display of unity in an effort to convince the government to reverse the change, the measure of which is a two-year increase in the retirement age to 64.
Reuters reported that based on interior ministry figures, “up to 1 million people are expected to take part in over 200 marches throughout the country while the Senate continues to review the reform, with a possible vote on the text from the upper house of the Parliament expected by Sunday night.”
Speaking to Reuters, TotalEnergies spokesperson told said that strikes is continued in the oil major’s French refineries and depots.
Also, according to the public railway operator SNCF, national and regional services would remain heavily disrupted over the week-end.
Local media reports that trash is still piling up on the streets of Paris and that there are more rats than before.
“A lot of things can still happen next week,” Marylise Leon, deputy secretary general of the CFDT union, the country’s largest, told Franceinfo radio. “Will the text be voted on in the National Assembly? We have to rally. It’s now or never.”
