Thousands march in Paris to protest pension reform plan

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

“Whatever the color of the vest, we must stick together,” the leader of the hard-left CGT union Philippe Martinez said on BFMTV, referring to the several hundred yellow vests who joined the march.

President Emmanuel Macron wants to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and rid the complex system of 42 special categories, notably railway and bus and Metro employees, with their own rules.

The strikes have disrupted transport across France and beyond, hobbling Paris Metros and trains across the country as well as businesses. The strikes have been especially felt over the holiday season.

On Saturday, the SNCF train authority said only six of 10 high-speed trains were running. The Eurostar from Paris to London had four of five trains running. Paris Metro service was improving, with partial service on several lines that had been shut down from the start. Only two lines, both automatic, ran without problem.



A demonstrators set up a barricade and light fire during a protest against pension reform plans in Paris, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. Thousands of protesters opposed to the French government's plan to revamp the retirement system marched through Paris on Saturday, the 14th day of crippling strikes. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)


Read more: https://apnews.com/64d4691ac3668d870aa46e2d56e6b438

[DFW]

1. There weren't any fires in the streets when I was there in mid December

Just a lot of long faces. I had to walk 40 minutes with my three bags to get to my office there from the Gare du Nord downtown and back, as the Metro was shut down, and no taxi would take a fare under 50 euros ($55). Shops were deserted, and those people who found a way into town were walking 30 to 75 minutes to work (and back), and shops were closing at 4 PM due to lack of traffic (at the heart of the Christmas season!).

A CGT rep openly declared that they knew of this months ago, but as most employees get a 13th month's salary as a Christmas bonus, and this is traditionally paid out on November 30th, they waited until December 5th to start their action, as they could easily afford to take the month off, and to hell with the working people who depended on them. My decidedly left-leaning head French employee was so pissed, he said he was voting Le Pen next time out of pure fury. I think he'll calm down before the next elections, but if walking 40 minutes through the dark, cold rain twice a day was miserable for me twice in a month, I'll bet people who had to do it for 20 workdays in a row had a lot more rage built up than I did.

There are no greater critics of the French than the French, themselves, so there's no comment I could make that hasn't been made a hundred times over on French TV, radio, or in their print media.

[rickyhall]

2. The French really know how to protest.

At least since 1789...

[SMC22307]

3. The French don't fuck around in their protests.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at 67 for full retirement benefits...