Over a million French people demonstrated against the government’s pension reform on the day that the transport minister already called “a devilish Thursday”.
Large parts of France’s public transport are at a standstill on Thursday.
Every third public employee has been taken out on strike and reruns are playing on the France 2 television channel and on the radio the broadcasts are filled with music, as many media employees also stopped work. Parts of the country’s education system are also closed.
– We are on our knees, says Florence Trintignac, one of thousands of strikers in the city of Clermont-Ferrand in central France.
The pension reform that was presented last week means that the retirement age for most people in the country will be raised from 62 years to 64 years.
According to opinion polls, around two-thirds of the French oppose the change – despite the fact that the French retirement age is already one of the lowest in Europe.
In the player above: Foreign affairs commentator Elisabet Frerot on location in Paris.