The social movement against the pension reform continued the day after a major mobilization in the street, Wednesday, March 8, in several key sectors, including refineries, energy and transport, where the strike is renewed. As for fuel shipments, these are still blocked at the exit of the TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil refineries, with the strikers aiming to hold out until at least Friday. On the transport side, train traffic will remain “severely disrupted” on Thursday, said the management of the SNCF as well as that of the RATP (metro and RATP), despite signs of improvement. In the air, between 20 and 30% of flights will be canceled Thursday and Friday.
The Senate must decide in the evening or at night on article 7, the most symbolic of the pension reform, which provides for the postponement of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years old. The debates at the Luxembourg Palace grew in bitterness overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, with a war of parliamentary procedure between the right and center majority, favorable to the text, and the opposition of the left benches. At 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening, elected officials still had around thirty amendments, thoroughly contested by left-wing senators, before voting on Article 7. In the National Assembly, the deputies had not been able to go until the examination of this article, for lack of the stalemate of the debates and the strategy of obstruction adopted by the “rebellious” elected officials. The Senate has until Sunday, March 12 to complete the examination of the text.
While union representatives have been asking, since Tuesday evening, to be received directly by Emmanuel Macron, because of the strength of social protest, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and the government have, for the moment, opposed them. -receive. “If the trade unions wish to raise certain specific points, the door of the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt always remains open”, declared the Prime Minister during questions to the government in the Senate.
At Les Républicains, the pension reform is still creating tension, while Aurélien Pradié and around fifteen LR deputies critical of the text spoke on Wednesday with Laurent Berger (CFDT). Urging the government to renew social dialogue and hear the anger in the street, the Lot deputy called on Ms. Borne “to receive the various union leaders by the end of the week”.
Everywhere in France, the international day of women’s rights on March 8 was also placed under the sign of pensions and wage inequalities between women and men. In Paris, the demonstration gathered 15,000 people, according to the police headquarters.
