Issued on: 17/01/2023
01:36 Travellers will have a tough time getting around France on Thursday amid a nationwide strike against the government’s pension reform. © Olivier Chassignole, AFP/File picture
Text by: NEWS WIRES|
Video by: Emerald MAXWELL
Most trains will be cancelled in France on Thursday, with flights also affected and Paris’ subway heavily disrupted, as part of a nationwide strike against the government’s plan to make people work longer before they can retire.
Opinion polls show a vast majority of French oppose the planned reform, which would see the retirement age pushed from 62 to 64, and Thursday will be a test of whether this can transform into a major headache for the government.
Unions have called workers to massively walk out of their job on Jan. 19 and take to the streets across France. The government has said it will stand its ground and called on workers not to paralyse the country.
Only one in three to one in five high-speed TGV lines will be operating, and only one in ten local TER trains, the SNCF train operator said.
International traffic on the Eurostar and Thalys lines is set to be nearly normal, while the Lyria connection with Switzerland will be heavily disrupted and other international train connections will be entirely cancelled.
In Paris, the vast majority of RER commuter trains will be cancelled, while three metro lines will be entirely shut down and many others will be disrupted, the RATP metro operator said.
Meanwhile, one in five flights to and from Paris’ Orly airport are set to be cancelled.
The airport south of Paris, the city’s second-largest, at this stage is the only one in the country where the strikes could lead to disruptions, a spokesperson for the DGAC aviation regulator said.
Seven out of 10 teachers will be on strike in primary schools, the leading union SNUipp-FSU said on Tuesday, while other sectors, from refineries to banks, are also set to be on strike.
France has a decades-long history of attempts to reform its pension system - one of the most generous and costly in Europe - and of protests to try to stop them.
That worked in 1995, when millions took to the street in what were the country’s most disruptive social protests since May 1968. But several other pension reforms have gone through since despite protests.
The legal retirement age will gradually increase to 64 from 62, while the number of years of contributions needed for a full pension will rise faster than previously planned and will be set at 43 years from 2027, according to the government’s plans.
The reform is yet to be adopted in parliament, where President Emmanuel Macron does not have an absolute majority but is hoping to get the votes of the conservative Les Republicains.
(Reuters)
Video by: Emerald MAXWELL
Most trains will be cancelled in France on Thursday, with flights also affected and Paris’ subway heavily disrupted, as part of a nationwide strike against the government’s plan to make people work longer before they can retire.
Opinion polls show a vast majority of French oppose the planned reform, which would see the retirement age pushed from 62 to 64, and Thursday will be a test of whether this can transform into a major headache for the government.
Unions have called workers to massively walk out of their job on Jan. 19 and take to the streets across France. The government has said it will stand its ground and called on workers not to paralyse the country.
Only one in three to one in five high-speed TGV lines will be operating, and only one in ten local TER trains, the SNCF train operator said.
International traffic on the Eurostar and Thalys lines is set to be nearly normal, while the Lyria connection with Switzerland will be heavily disrupted and other international train connections will be entirely cancelled.
In Paris, the vast majority of RER commuter trains will be cancelled, while three metro lines will be entirely shut down and many others will be disrupted, the RATP metro operator said.
Meanwhile, one in five flights to and from Paris’ Orly airport are set to be cancelled.
The airport south of Paris, the city’s second-largest, at this stage is the only one in the country where the strikes could lead to disruptions, a spokesperson for the DGAC aviation regulator said.
Seven out of 10 teachers will be on strike in primary schools, the leading union SNUipp-FSU said on Tuesday, while other sectors, from refineries to banks, are also set to be on strike.
France has a decades-long history of attempts to reform its pension system - one of the most generous and costly in Europe - and of protests to try to stop them.
That worked in 1995, when millions took to the street in what were the country’s most disruptive social protests since May 1968. But several other pension reforms have gone through since despite protests.
The legal retirement age will gradually increase to 64 from 62, while the number of years of contributions needed for a full pension will rise faster than previously planned and will be set at 43 years from 2027, according to the government’s plans.
The reform is yet to be adopted in parliament, where President Emmanuel Macron does not have an absolute majority but is hoping to get the votes of the conservative Les Republicains.
(Reuters)
France braces for 'hellish Thursday' as pension strikes loom
Issued on: 17/01/2023 -
Paris (AFP) – France is to face severe public transport disruptions on Thursday, operators have warned, as workers join a nationwide strike against a widely unpopular pension reform plan.
The suggested changes, still to be debated in parliament, would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and increase contributions required for a full pension.
The industrial action across different sectors on Thursday will be the first time in 12 years -- since that age was increased from 60 to 62 -- that all of France's unions are united.
"It'll be a hellish Thursday," Transport Minister Clement Beaune told broadcaster France 2 on Tuesday, urging all those who could to work from home.
Paris public transport operator RATP warned services would be diminished, with three metro lines out of service, and ten others only operating partially.
Services would continue as normal on just two automated lines, though they risked being overcrowded, it said.
Elsewhere in the country, national train operator SNCF said many high-speed trains would be out of action, with just one in five maintaining their journeys in some areas.
Most slow trains between cities would be halted.
Up to 70 percent of nursery and primary school teachers are also expected to refuse to work, the education ministry has said.
Opinion polls show that around two-thirds of French people oppose raising the retirement age, a move that comes amid high inflation and with the country still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
President Emmanuel Macron's last attempt at pension reform in 2019, aborted a year later when Covid-19 hit Europe, prompted the longest strike on the Paris transport network in three decades.
The 45-year-old centrist put the issue at the heart of his successful re-election campaign last year, pointing to forecasts that the system would fall into heavy deficit at the end of the decade.
burs-ah/fb
Issued on: 17/01/2023 -
Paris (AFP) – France is to face severe public transport disruptions on Thursday, operators have warned, as workers join a nationwide strike against a widely unpopular pension reform plan.
The suggested changes, still to be debated in parliament, would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and increase contributions required for a full pension.
The industrial action across different sectors on Thursday will be the first time in 12 years -- since that age was increased from 60 to 62 -- that all of France's unions are united.
"It'll be a hellish Thursday," Transport Minister Clement Beaune told broadcaster France 2 on Tuesday, urging all those who could to work from home.
Paris public transport operator RATP warned services would be diminished, with three metro lines out of service, and ten others only operating partially.
Services would continue as normal on just two automated lines, though they risked being overcrowded, it said.
Elsewhere in the country, national train operator SNCF said many high-speed trains would be out of action, with just one in five maintaining their journeys in some areas.
Most slow trains between cities would be halted.
Up to 70 percent of nursery and primary school teachers are also expected to refuse to work, the education ministry has said.
Opinion polls show that around two-thirds of French people oppose raising the retirement age, a move that comes amid high inflation and with the country still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
President Emmanuel Macron's last attempt at pension reform in 2019, aborted a year later when Covid-19 hit Europe, prompted the longest strike on the Paris transport network in three decades.
The 45-year-old centrist put the issue at the heart of his successful re-election campaign last year, pointing to forecasts that the system would fall into heavy deficit at the end of the decade.
burs-ah/fb
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