Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across France yesterday, the fourth day of protests and demonstrations against the government’s bill to change the pension system, one of its most important provisions is to raise the retirement age to 64 years. years. Despite the decline in participation in the protests of the third day, February 6, unions hope to continue to demonstrate and mobilize the masses needed to oppose the passage of this law. The French President urged the protesters to continue to show “the spirit of responsibility … and not disrupt the life of the rest of the country.”
Laurent Bergé, head of the reformist union of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), said: “It would be a great success if the number of participants exceeded one million.”
A police source said he expected 600,000 to 800,000 people to take part in the demonstrations, including 90,000 to 120,000 in Paris.
Since the start of the protest against this reform to President Macron, which is currently being discussed in the National Assembly in a climate of tension, the unions have been talking about widespread mobilization, even if the number of demonstrators and strikers decreased the previous day. action, tuesday.
Between 757,000 and 2 million people took part in the demonstrations on Tuesday, compared with 1.27 and more than 2.5 million on January 31, according to sources.
Opinion polls have shown that the majority of French people reject the essence of the reform, which provides for raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
However, the government reaffirms its determination to implement this reform.
Over time, I agreed to make some changes that did not affect the essence of the project.
Trade unions reacted strongly to the statement of Emmanuel Macron, made on Friday in Brussels.
In a rare comment on this thorny issue, the French president urged the organizers of the protests to continue to show a “spirit of responsibility” so that “points of disagreement are expressed, but calmly and within the bounds of respect for property and people and a desire not to disturb the life of the rest of the country.”
Laurent Bergé angrily replied, “I’m sorry…we weren’t responsible from the start?” At the same time, the demonstrations have so far taken place without significant incidents. He spoke of a kind of “contempt”.
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President Macron calls for a sense of responsibility
Laurent Bergé calls for a discussion of “the heart of the matter”.
Debates in the National Assembly were often contentious.
