France: Nearly 1M people in fourth day of pension reform protests
CTV
Police were out in force across France on Saturday as protesters held a sometimes restive fourth round of nationwide demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to reform the country's pension system.
Police were out in force across France on Saturday as protesters held a sometimes restive fourth round of nationwide demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to reform the country's pension system.
Over 960,000 people marched in Paris, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and other cities, according to the Interior Ministry. Protesters hoped to keep up the pressure on the government to back down, and further action is planned for Feb. 16.
In the French capital, authorities counted some 93,000 participants, the most to demonstrate in Paris against the pension changes since the protests started last month.
The weekend demonstrations drew young people and others opposed to the pension proposals who weren't able to attend the previous three days of action, all held on weekdays.
This time, though, rail worker strikes did not accompany the demonstrations, allowing trains and the Paris Metro to run Saturday. However, an unexpected strike by air traffic controllers meant that up to half of flights to and from Paris' second largest airport, Orly, were cancelled Saturday afternoon.
In Paris, some workers and students who wanted to voice opposition attended the protests for the first time, owing to heavy weekday workloads.
"We often hear that we should be too young to care, but with rising inflation, soaring electricity prices, this reform will impact our families," Elisa Haddad, 18. said. "It is my first demonstration because I couldn't attend with uni. It is important that the voice of (France's) parents and students is heard."
