Paris (EFE).- France lives this Tuesday the third day of strikes and demonstrations organized by the unions to protest against the pension reform of the Government of the president, Emmanuel Macron, and that is already being processed in the plenary session of the National Assembly.
As in the two previous massive calls on January 19 and 31, the strikes this morning mainly affect public transport, education or energy, and 20% of the flights scheduled at the Parisian airport of Orly, the second in the country
The National Railway Society (SNCF) has already warned since last Sunday that due to the strike it would have to suppress between half and two thirds of high-speed trains (TGV).
In international connections, a quarter of the Eurostar service to London has been cancelled, half of the Lyria to Switzerland, some of the Thalys to Brussels and two thirds of the other trains, including those of the Paris-Barcelona corridor.
The strike on the railways, which is having a major impact on Paris commuter services (between half and 80% have been suppressed, depending on the lines) and regional services (70% cancelled, on average), will continue to Wednesday.
The situation of metropolitan public transport in Paris is expected to be very difficult throughout the day, with only two of the 14 metro lines (the automatic ones) operating normally and the rest with between a third and a half of the usual trains in circulation .
In energy, strikers at the state utility EDF have cut output by about 4,500 megawatts, equivalent to the power of more than four nuclear reactors, but without causing cuts or blackouts.
Beyond the strikes, the main indicator of the success of this new protest will be the number of protesters. In that of January 31, the police counted 1.272 million, while the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) calculated that there were 2.8 million in the around 250 concentrations that took place throughout the country.
The general secretary of the CGT, Philippe Martínez, denounced this Tuesday the lack of listening to Macron, who, in his opinion, has “an oversized ego” who “wants to show that he is capable of carrying out a reform regardless of the position of Public opinion”.
In an interview with the RTL station, Martínez warned that the president “plays with fire.”
The Labor Minister, Olivier Dussopt, in charge of defending the reform, insisted today in another interview with the RMC radio station that the reform “is necessary” if the pay-as-you-go regime is to be preserved, in which current workers pay pensions of the retired.
Dussopt affirmed that without changes the system will have a deficit of 1,800 million euros next year, 12,500 million per year from 2027 and 25,000 million per year on the horizon of 2040.
The main axis of the reform is the delay of the minimum retirement age from the current 62 years to 64, and an acceleration of the increase in the contribution period necessary to have a full pension, which will go from 42 years now to 43 in 2027 .
