UPDATE 2 - Rally starts in Paris against pension reform for 14th time

ADDS MORE DETAILS; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; EDITS THROUGH

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) - A rally against the government's pension reform started Tuesday afternoon in Paris, according to media reports.

This is the 14th round since January, with thousands of workers walking out and rallying against the reform law which will enter into force on Sept. 1.

Protesters cut the power supply of some media outlets' headquarters outside Paris.

They cut the power supply of the region Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside the capital, where the headquarters of France Medias Monde (including broadcasters RFI and France 24), as well as the telecommunication company Orange, and Microsoft France, are located, the daily Le Figaro reported.

A group of protesters also infiltrated the headquarters of the Paris Olympics in the Parisian suburb Saint-Denis, the same source noted. The intruders chanted peacefully, carrying the banners of their unions.

Protests started earlier in other cities, including Bordeaux, Marseille, and Nantes.

No act of violence was recorded so far in Paris, Le Figaro stressed.

While authorities expected up to 600,000 people in total across the country, the preliminary data shows that the attendance is quite weaker than the previous rounds, local media said.

"This is probably one of the last mobilization days against the pension reform," Laurent Berger, the secretary-general of the trade union French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), told Europe 1 on Tuesday morning.

"The French feel that they have not been listened to," he added.

Meetings held between the unions and the government after the adoption of the law did not give any results.

Protests have been held across the country since January, when the government revealed the details of the plan.

Acts of violence stained the protests over the past months, and street furniture, various buildings, dumpsters, and trash were vandalized.

Police officers arrested hundreds of suspects.

The centrist opposition group LIOT in the French parliament has proposed a bill to repeal the pension reform.

In their proposed bill, the group suggested an extra tax on tobacco products as a solution to compensate for the financial shortfall caused by the cancellation of the pension reform.

The bill will be examined by members of parliament on Thursday.

- Pension reform law

President Emmanuel Macron signed the pension reform into law on April 14 after the Constitutional Council completed its review, despite demands from trade unions to drop the measure that has triggered months of protests.

The law raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030, requiring at least 43 years of service to be eligible for a full pension.

The government unveiled the proposal in January and it was taken up for a parliamentary debate the following month as millions took to the streets to oppose it.

The unrest intensified when Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, after consulting with Macron, decided to use special constitutional powers to adopt the bill without parliamentary approval in March.

The decision was motivated by concerns that lawmakers would be able to stymie the reforms because the government lacked an absolute majority in parliament.