PARIS: Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators hit French streets on Thursday (Apr 6) for another day of protests and strikes against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform, as unions sought to maintain pressure ahead of a key court ruling.
Scuffles broke out in the afternoon in several cities, including in Paris where some radical protesters briefly set fire to the awning of a restaurant prized by the president.
Macron, currently on a visit to China, is facing the biggest challenge of his second term over his flagship pension overhaul, which includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 and demanding people work longer for a full payout.
All sides in the standoff are awaiting an Apr 14 verdict on the validity of the reform by France’s Constitutional Council, which has the power to strike out some or even all of the legislation.
While council members, known as the “wise ones”, will make a decision in line with a strict interpretation of the law, unions want to show the protest movement born in January still has drive.
“We’re in the middle of a social crisis, a democratic crisis,” Laurent Berger, head of the centrist CFDT union, told RTL radio.
“It’s a problem … that needs to be solved by the president.”
Demonstrations were held across the country, with people brandishing placards or waving union flags from Paris to the southern cities of Montpellier and Marseille.
“We haven’t given up yet and we don’t intend to,” said 50-year-old public servant Davy Chretien as he marched in Marseille.
The CGT union claimed 400,000 people had turned up to the Paris protest.
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