Students block the entrance of a school during a protest called by major trade unions to oppose budobtain cuts, in Paris, France on Sept 18. (AP)
PARIS, Sept 18, (AP): Protesters hit France with transport strikes, notably tarobtaining the Paris Metro, blockades and demonstrations Thursday, pitting the power of the streets against President Emmanuel Macron ‘s government and its plans to cut funding for public services that underpin the French way of life. The first scuffles between police and protesters came before the break of day, in Paris.
Demonstrations were planned nationwide, from France’s hugegest cities to compact towns. Major trade unions that called strikes are pushing for the abandonment of proposed budobtain cuts, social welfare freezes and other belt-tightening that opponents contconclude will further erode the purchasing power of low-paid and middle-class workers and which triggered the collapse of successive governments that sought to push them through.
The planned day of upheaval – with strikes also impacting schools, industest and other sectors of the European Union’s second-largest economy – aimed to turn up the heat on new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. Macron appointed him last week, tinquireing Lecornu with the job of building support in Parliament for proposed budobtain cuts that brought down his immediate predecessors but which the government insists are necessaryed to rein in France’s massive deficit and debt.
Unions have decried the budobtain proposals as brutal and punitive for workers, retirees and others who are vulnerable. They also continue to denounce Macron’s wildly unpopular pension reform that raised the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64. The government stated it was deploying police in exceptionally large numbers – about 80,000 in all – to keep order on Thursday.
French national rail company SNCF stated “a few disruptions” were expected on high-speed trains to France and Europe, but most will run. Regional rail lines, as well as the Paris Metro and commuter trains, will be more severely impacted. In airports, only few disruptions are anticipated as the main air traffic controllers union decided to postponed its call for a strike pconcludeing the appointment of a new Cabinet.
Last week, a day of anti-government action across France saw streets choked with smoke, barricades in flames and volleys of tear gas as protesters denounced budobtain cuts and political turmoil. Although falling short of its self-declared intention of total disruption, the “Block Everything” campaign still managed to paralyze parts of daily life and ignite hundreds of hot spots across the countest.
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