French labor unions have called on President Emmanuel Macron to slow down the reform, which provides for raising the minimum retirement age, writes Reuters.
A planned two-year increase in the retirement age up to 64 has sparked widespread demonstrations and strikes, and authorities have sent thousands of police officers into the streets. Demonstrations started already in mid-January. However, public outrage has now grown into a harsher, anti-Macron sentiment.
At the beginning of March, the government used the constitutional right to bypass the last vote of the parliament,
and since then the protests have escalated, causing chaotic situations, reminiscent of the scenes of the protests organized by the yellow vests in 2019.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin informed on Monday, the 27th of March, that the authorities have detected violent tendencies and expect a very serious risk to public order in the demonstrations.
On the morning of Tuesday, the 28th of March, roads were blocked in several French cities, and workers’ strikes hampered the functioning of public infrastructure.
Around 17% of French gas stations were missing at least one product overnight
from Monday to Tuesday.
Laurent Berger, the leader of France’s largest trade union, has called on Macron to try to calm the situation and pause the reform. There have been attempts to negotiate between the trade union leaders and the government in recent days, but they have failed.
Macron has indicated that the changes are necessary to balance the state’s finances. Trade unions and opposition parties, on the other hand, believe that it can be achieved in another way. Meanwhile, the police are preparing for widespread protests, and it is expected that people who are in the sights of the security and intelligence services will also try to incite violence.