France faces new pension strikes

BLOOMBERG

French unions hold a 10th day of nationwide protests on Tuesday to try to force President Emmanuel Macron to hit the brakes on his unpopular pension reform and open fresh talks.
As concerns grow over mounting violence, labour organisations have blamed the government for creating an explosive situation. Marches ended in chaos, with hardcore fringes clashing with riot police. Further scuffles have taken place in the days since.
The backlash against raising the minimum retirement age by two years to 64 has escalated since Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said that Article 49.3 of the constitution would be used to avoid a vote on the bill in the National Assembly.
Since then, there have been 114 acts of vandalism on the local offices of members of parliament, 128 cases of damage to public buildings and 2,179 arson attacks, while almost 900 police officers have been injured, according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
“Radicalised elements from the ultra left and extreme left are trying to take union marches hostage,” Darmanin told a news conference. “They come to cause damage, to injure, and to kill the police. Their aims have nothing to do with pension reform.”
The minister said an unprecedented 13,000 officers were being deployed across the country, including 5,500 in the French capital, to head off what he called a very significant risk of breaches of public order.
The police have also come under scrutiny during the protests, with unions, Amnesty International and Council of Europe Commissioner of Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic warning against excessive use of force. Darmanin said 17 internal investigations are ongoing into police behaviour at the marches.
Union leaders taking part in the marches called on Macron to hit pause on the reform, drop the age increase to 64, and allow mediation in order to resolve the dispute.
Government spokesman Olivier Veran dismissed the need for third-party involvement, however.