Protests continue after pension plan push

A man walks past an uncollected garbage pile next to the cafe ‘The President’ in Paris Tuesday. Pic/AP

Paris police said Tuesday that 234 people were arrested overnight in the capital mostly for setting fire to garbage in the streets, after France's parliament adopted a divisive bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 pushed through by President Emmanuel Macron.

The French government survived two no-confidence votes in the lower chamber of parliament, proposed by lawmakers. The no-confidence motion filed by a small centrist group and supported by a leftist coalition received 278 votes in the National Assembly, falling short of the 287 needed to pass. Another motion at the initiative of the far-right won just 94 votes. With the failure of both votes Monday, the pension bill is considered adopted. The bill still faces a review by the Constitutional Council before it can be formally signed into law.

Mostly small, scattered protests were held in cities around France, some degenerating late Monday into violent incidents. In Paris, small groups took to the streets to set fire to piles of trash that have formed due to a strike by garbage collectors in the capital that is in its 16th day.

Also read: French govt fights to survive with 2 no-confidence motions

Macron has planned a series of political meetings on Tuesday with the prime minister, parliament leaders and lawmakers from his centrist alliance.

The French president, who made the pension plan a centerpiece of his second term, is to speak Wednesday on national television, a first since he made the decision last week to use a government's special constitutional power to force the bill through parliament.

Paris police authorities said in a statement Tuesday that they ordered garbage employees to work in order to ensure a "minimum service." It said that 674 staff have been covered by the orders, allowing 206 garbage trucks to operate since last week.

Oil shipments in the country were partially disrupted amid strikes at several refineries in western and southern France.
Unions have called for new nationwide protests on Thursday to demand the government simply withdraw the retirement bill.

234
No. of people held in Paris for protests

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever