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(CNN) Protesters on the tracks of a train station in Paris. A smoke bomb was fired at Biarritz airport. Anger over French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms showed no signs of abating on Tuesday as it was set to become embroiled in nationwide demonstrations for the 10th day.
Macron’s proposal to raise the retirement age for workers from 62 to 64 has angered opposition lawmakers and trade unions.
According to CNN affiliate BFM, up to 900,000 protesters are expected to attend 240 rallies planned across France on Tuesday, with 100,000 protesters expected to fill the streets of the capital alone. ing.
Social media videos seen by CNN showed protesters firing smoke bombs outside the entrance and boarding area of the terminal at Biarritz airport before an evacuation announcement was heard over speakers. Further north, protesters were walking on the tracks of Paris’ Gare de Lyon station, according to CNN affiliate BFM.
Railroad workers are demonstrating on tracks at Gare de Lyon in Paris, France, on Tuesday as a new round of demonstrations against proposed pension reforms is planned.
Striking railway workers demonstrate near the burning pallets of Gare de Lyon.
The government went ahead without a vote on a highly unpopular bill last week after two failed no-confidence votes paved the way for pension reform. It says that relying on the working population to burden the aging retirees is no longer fit for purpose.
Locking down airports is a tactic used by anti-pension reform protesters nationwide, with Terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle airport just north of Paris also shut off on Thursday morning.
At least four groups can be identified on the footage based on their insignia, including the local Basque trade union and two national organizations (the CGT sector union of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Fédération syndicale unitaire (FSU)).
The FSU, which streamed live video of Tuesday’s protests inside the airport, is one of the leading trade unions in France’s education sector and, according to its website, “has 162,000 members, of whom 88% is a teacher.”
The CGT is one of five major trade unions in the country and has chapters throughout the country.
CNN has attempted to contact both FSU and CGT, but cannot independently confirm how many people were at the airport protest or how the event unfolded.
Call for “de-escalation” of violence
Trade union leaders have called on President Emmanuel Macron to put his controversial pension reform on hold as clashes between police and protesters intensified against the backdrop of increased violence in the streets.
Philippe Martinez, president of the CGT union, told CNN affiliate BFM television on Tuesday that Macron should “suspend the project and appoint an arbitrator”.
The protests have become more violent since President Macron pushed a bill through the French National Assembly, using a constitutional clause allowing the government to evade the vote.
Unions staged massive demonstrations in Paris, France on Tuesday, calling on President Emmanuel Macron to postpone the pension reform bill.
According to Interior Minister Gerald Dalmanan, there have been hundreds of acts of vandalism against public buildings and political institutions and more than 2,000 arson cases in the past two weeks. He said there are now 17 investigations of him by the National Police Inspector General on pension reform demonstrations.
Dalmanin said French authorities deployed an unprecedented 13,000 police officers across the country on Tuesday, including 5,500 in the capital Paris, and his ministry said during the protests it was “posing a high risk to public order”. I expect it,” he added. He said “more than 1,000 radical individuals” could take part in organized marches in the capital and other cities.
French rights advocates — an independent government agency dedicated to protecting individual rights — called for “de-escalation” of violence on the part of police and protesters.
Rights advocate Claire Heddon said in an interview with Le Monde on Tuesday, “I condemn the violence and think of all victims, whether demonstrators or security forces. .
“It is also important to say that freedom of demonstration is a fundamental principle of our rule of law. guaranteed.
“The testimony and images reaching us show an unacceptable situation.”
“The use of force can only be used when necessary and in a proportionate manner. Yes, it’s a state responsibility,” she added.
CNN’s Joseph Ataman contributed to the report.
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