France

Pensions : scenes of chaos in France!

- 9:42 pm
Monster demonstration in Paris (capture Twitter Alliance écologique et sociale)

Monster demonstration in Paris (capture Twitter Alliance écologique et sociale)

Record demonstrations throughout France, blockades, fires, violent clashes with the police… No more? Not yet: we start again on March 28, 2023.

The President of the Republic should be worried. For the ninth time in a few weeks, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched in 320 cities in France. According to the CGT, there were 800,000 in Paris, 280,000 in Marseille, 30,000 in Strasbourg, more than 50,000 in Grenoble, and several thousand in Nancy, where there were clashes with the police and a few burning pallets. There was also a large turnout in Brest, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Dijon, Toulouse, Lille, Saint-Etienne… Everywhere, men and women were angry and determined to continue the protest movement against this pension reform that nobody wants. Among the demonstrators, firemen in uniform, magistrates, members of the Court of Auditors, many artists. More than 3.5 million people were in the streets according to the unions. 1.09 million according to the Interior. Rarely seen.

Violence and injuries

From the beginning of the day, the actions set the tone. Many roads were cut, several refineries blocked, fires on the tracks of the SNCF in several cities have marked the ninth day of mobilization that followed the Interview of the President of the Republic, Wednesday.
Macron did not throw oil on the fire, “he threw a can of gasoline” observed Philippe Martinez, leader of the CGT. The boss of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, had called for “non-violence” to keep public opinion on the side of the protesters.
Nevertheless, uncontrolled elements have ransacked the administrative court of Nantes. Others broke windows, set up barricades, set fire to garbage cans, and threw projectiles at the police. Several policemen were severely injured. Many demonstrators too.
In Paris, at the end of the afternoon, several hundred black-blockers harassed the police and gendarmes who replied with tear gas.
Everywhere scenes of chaos seemed to continue throughout the evening and perhaps the night. And without doubt the next days.

 

 

 

 

France,