France protests: Protesters storm 2024 Paris Olympics headquarters against pension reforms

New Delhi: Activists of the French union marched on the headquarters of the Paris Olympics and slowed down traffic at the capital’s Orly airport. But the last-ditch effort attracted fewer followers than at the height of the movement earlier this year, and even some union leaders appeared ready to move on. President Emmanuel Macron’s move to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and push the measure through parliament without a vote has stirred public sentiment and triggered some of France’s biggest demonstrations in years. But the intensity of anger over pension reform has subsided since the last major protest on May 1, which was attended by more than 500,000 people in Paris alone, and since the measure became law in April.

As part of Tuesday’s actions, a third of flights at Paris’s Orly airport were canceled and around 10% of trains around France were disrupted due to the strikes. Around 250 marches, rallies and other actions were planned across the country to mark the 14th day of national protests since January over pension reform.

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A small group of activists from the hard-left CGT union shouted anti-Macron slogans as they made their way to the headquarters of the 2024 Olympics in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. In Paris, mild tensions flared near a restaurant in the Left Bank as people vandalized bus shelters and threw objects at police. The police dispersed the crowd in a hurry.

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Thousands gathered on the banks of the Seine River near the gold-domed Invalides monument before marching to southeast Paris. The peaceful crowd waved union flags, beat drums and demanded withdrawal of the pension law and lowering of the retirement age.

In the western city of Rennes, union workers marched onto train tracks before being turned back by police, according to local public broadcaster France Bleu. Macron says pension reform was needed to fund the pension system because the population ages. Unions and left-wing opponents say the changes hurt poor workers and instead argue for higher taxes on the wealthy and employers.

The outgoing head of the liberal CFDT union, Laurent Berger, said that after Tuesday’s actions, “we will continue to oppose retirement reform, but it will take a different form.” CGT chief Sophie Binet told reporters at the Paris march that other protests were ‘possible’, but added that it was time to talk about other issues such as working conditions or tax fraud by companies.

Organizers of Tuesday’s protests hope to rally support ahead of a possible parliamentary debate on Thursday seeking to repeal the new retirement age. Legislators from the centrist opposition group LIOT proposed a bill to push the retirement age back to 62. But it has already faced challenges before reaching the parliamentary floor.

While Macron’s centrist party lacks a majority in the National Assembly, it has formed a coalition with the conservative Republican Party to push back opposition efforts.