Hundreds of thousands of people marched as strikes disrupted transport and schools in France on Tuesday during protests against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to push back the retirement age to 64.
Police used teargas in Paris and minor clashes also took place in the western city of Nantes, but the more than 260 union-organised rallies across the country were mostly peaceful.
France at a standstill?
Labour leaders had pledged to bring France "to a standstill" on the biggest day of action in a series of stoppages this year - goal that proved beyond their reach judging by the busy roads of major cities.
Only one in five regional and high-speed trains were running, however, and the Paris metro system was operating with a skeletal schedule.
"I call on all the country's employees, citizens and retirees who are against the pensions reform to come out and protest en masse," the head of the CFDT union Laurent Berger told the France Inter radio station Monday.
"The president cannot remain deaf" to the protests, he added.
Macron put the plan at the centre of his re-election campaign last year, and his cabinet says the changes are essential to prevent the pensions system from falling into deficit in coming years.
But they face fierce resistance from both parliament and the street, with almost two in three people across the country supporting protests against it, according to a poll by the Elabe survey group published Monday.
The hard-line CGT union said fuel deliveries from refineries across France had been blocked from Tuesday morning, which could see petrol stations running short if the protests continue as unions hope.
"The strike has begun everywhere... with deliveries blocked from all the refineries this morning," said Eric Sellini, branch coordinator for the CGT.
Only one runway remained open at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle international airport as firefighters in charge of security went on strike, causing delays.
Spectre of rolling strikes
Unions have warned of rolling strikes on public transport that could paralyse parts of the country for weeks on end.
Tuesday saw the sixth day of strikes since mid-January. According to the CGT, some 700,000 people took part in Paris, 81,000 according to police estimates.
Demonstrations were already forming early Tuesday morning, with the public road information service reporting that a national road in the city of Rennes had been blocked by around 100 protesters since 1 am.
Punishment for 'most fragile'
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told French television Monday that while she respected the right to protest, a nationwide standstill would primarily penalise "the most fragile" among the population.
The government has argued that the changes are crucial to keep France's pensions system from falling into deep deficts in the coming years.
"If we want to keep this system going, we need to work longer," Macron said last month.
But unions contest that conclusion and say small increases in contributions could keep it solvent. They also argue that the proposed measures are unfair and would disproportionately affect low-skilled workers in tiring jobs who start their careers early.
According to an Elabe survey, 56 percent of respondents said they supported rolling strikes, and 59 percent backed the call to bring the country to a standstill.
The bill is now being debated in the upper house of parliament, after two weeks of heated debate in the lower house that ended without even reaching a vote on raising the retirement age.
Monday's Senate debate dragged on until after 3 am Tuesday morning, with the body's right-leaning majority shooting down alternative proposals for funding the pensions system fielded by the left. Debate is slated to resume at 2:30 pm.
The centrist government is hoping to push through the reform in parliament with help from the right, without resorting to a controversial mechanism that would bypass a parliamentary vote but risk fuelling more protests.
(with AFP)
