Paris (EFE) now.
The trade union centrals hope that a massive popular protest will force the Executive to back down, just as they achieved in 1995 with a huge mobilization against the reform of the government of the conservative Alain Juppé, who had an absolute majority in Parliament.
The strike already began on Friday with a reduction in electricity production, while some truckers began to block some roads on Monday and the railway strike began last afternoon, due to the organization of shifts.
Compared to the other strikes that have taken place in January and February, this time there will be many more trains and flights suspended. Public transport in the Paris region will also be more affected.
A “bad for citizens” strike
“The most affected by the strikes will be the most modest French,” said the Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, in a television interview last night, in which she stressed that an eventual paralysis of the country will be “bad for the citizens.”
The unions have called demonstrations all over the country and, as usual, the biggest one will be in Paris. In total, the police anticipate between 1.1 and 1.4 million participants in the protests.
The most controversial points of the reform are the increase in the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years, which would come into force in 2030, and the advancement to 2027 of the lengthening of the contribution period to have the maximum pension, from 42 to 43 years, so far predicted for 2035.
Majority rejection of the reform
All the surveys in recent months show a very majority rejection of the reform (68%, according to an Ifop poll published on Sunday) and support for the unions in their plans to continue the strikes beyond Tuesday (56% , according to another Elabe poll made public on Monday).
However, the Government remains firm, arguing that if there is no reform the system will have an annual deficit of 12,500 million euros in 2030, and expects to approve the project this month, which is being processed in both chambers of the Parliament by urgent procedure.
