France: Protests, ports shut down against pension attacks

January 17, 2020
Issue 
Workers from the National Library of France on strike against Macron's pension cuts.

On January 14–17, fresh strikes and demonstrations took place across France.

According to media reports, several French ports were blocked by a 72-hour strike by members of the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), as part of the ongoing mass transportation strikes over Prime Minister Emanuel Macron’s attacks on the pension system.

The CGT called a 72-hour walk-out starting from January 14 and for pickets on January 17, in what the union has called “opération ports morts” (operation dead ports).

In total seven French ports are involved in the strike, including Calais, Dunkirk, Le Havre, Rouen, Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, La Rochelle and Marseille. Le Havre, La Rochelle and Marseille are totally blocked.

Striking workers joined Yellow Vest protesters and students in a mass demonstration in Paris on January 14.

 

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