More strife in store for commuters in France

PARIS — France is to face severe public transport disruptions on Thursday, operators have warned, as workers join a nationwide strike against a widely unpopular pension reform plan.

The suggested changes, still to be debated in parliament, would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and increase contributions required for a full pension.

The industrial action across different sectors on Thursday will be the first time in 12 years that all of France's unions are united, since the age was increased from 60 to 62 then.

"It'll be a hellish Thursday," Transport Minister Clement Beaune told broadcaster France 2 on Tuesday, urging all those who could to work from home.

Paris public transport operator RATP warned services would be diminished, with three metro lines out of service, and 10 others only operating partially.

Only 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 high-speed TGV lines and only 1 in 10 local TER trains will be operating, the SNCF train operator said.

International traffic on the Eurostar and Thalys lines is set to be nearly normal, while the Lyria connection with Switzerland will be heavily disrupted and other international train connections will be entirely canceled.

Meanwhile, 1 in 5 flights to and from Paris' Orly Airport are set to be canceled.

Transport disruptions

The airport, which is located south of Paris and the city's second-largest, at this stage is the only one in the country where the strikes could lead to disruptions, a spokesperson for the DGAC aviation regulator said.

Most slow trains between cities would be halted.

Up to 70 percent of nursery and primary school teachers are also expected to refuse to work, the education ministry said.

Seven out of 10 teachers will be on strike in primary schools, the leading union SNUipp-FSU said on Tuesday, while other sectors from refineries to banks are also set to be on strike.

Opinion polls show that around two-thirds of French people oppose raising the retirement age, a move that comes amid high inflation and with the country still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Emmanuel Macron's last attempt at pension reform in 2019, aborted a year later when COVID-19 hit Europe, prompted the longest strike on the Paris transport network in three decades.

The 45-year-old centrist put the issue at the heart of his successful reelection campaign last year, pointing to forecasts that the system would fall into a heavy deficit at the end of the decade.

Agencies via Xinhua