Workers in France gear up for 14th round of mass mobilization against gov't pension reform

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) - Workers and trade unions in France are preparing for a new day of mass mobilizations against the government's pension reform on Tuesday, according to media reports.

Trade unions and workers are insisting on their objection to the government's pension reform, which was adopted on March 16 and is set to enter into force on Sept. 1.

Protests and massive walkouts are expected across the country, with the attendance of up to 600,000 people in total, the daily Le Figaro said, citing authorities.

Paris police expects 70,000 protesters in the capital, and protests will be organized in other cities such as Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, and Toulouse.

"We wait resolutely for the lawbreakers and we will disperse them," Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told the broadcaster BFMTV on Monday.

The national railway company SNCF said its traffic would be slightly disrupted, and Paris regional transportation company RATP's traffic will keep its normal course, Le Figaro added.

The French Directorate General for Civil Aviation however asked airline companies to cancel a third of their flights at Paris-Orly airport, due to the workers' strikes.

Walkouts are also planned in hospitals and nurseries.

"This is probably one of the last mobilization days against the pension reform," the trade union French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT) Secretary-General Laurent Berger 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.