France: Rail workers chase away the riot police inside the Paris metro

Striking French rail workers have clashed with riot police in Paris after holding a demonstration against pension changes ignoring Emmanuel Macron’s call for a Christmas truce.

Hundreds of trade unionists and strikers gathered on Monday morning (23 December 2019) outside the Gare de Lyon metro station, which is used by large numbers of passengers travelling south for the holidays or to ski resorts near the Alps, and where many services have been cancelled.

Some strikers made speeches denouncing the government’s proposed changes to the pension system and vowed to continue their stoppages into Christmas and the new year.

Protesters let off flares and fireworks, and smoke drifted down into the station concourse. Riot police with helmets and shields were positioned at ticket barriers at Bercy subway station but the rail workers managed to chase them away.

The nationwide transport strikes keep going strong while they have been going on for 19 days.

Meanwhile, a production shutdown was under way at Lavera oil refinery in southern France, which processes 210,000 barrels per day, after workers represented by the CGT union voted to stop output as part of the protests over pension changes.

CGT union workers also voted to halt production at Total’s Grandpuits refinery. Emmanuel Lepine, the secretary general of the CGT’s oil branch, told France Info radio that CGT workers at other refineries in France could also vote to halt production.

“We gave an ultimatum to the government, it didn’t listen, so we’re doing exactly what we promised,” Lepine said. “What we are demanding is the withdrawal of the reform.”

State officials have begun preparing for another round of union negotiations in the coming weeks before a further national day of protests on 9 January.

The government has insisted it will push ahead with attempts to unify the French pension system.While some unions support a single system, almost all reject any age-related changes.

Unions are angry at government plans to introduce a “pivot age” – keeping the legal retirement age at 62 but insisting on an additional two years of work to receive a full pension.

(Video posted on Facebook by Action Antifasciste Paris-Banlieue on23 December 2019)

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