French unions are staging a second round of mass street demonstrations as the country entered its sixth day of a nationwide strike and transport standstill over proposed plans to change the pensions system, reports The Guardian.
The government’s standoff with unions continued as the prime minister, Édouard Philippe, said he would stand firm and announce details of the pension changes on Wednesday, with speculation over possible concessions on the start date in order to diffuse growing tensions on the streets.
The government will be watching Tuesday’s turnout after being caught off-guard by the scale of last week’s protests when at least 800,000 people took part in one of the biggest demonstrations of trade union strength in a decade.
Crucially, the number of protesters has been particularly high in small provincial towns, echoing the mood of the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) anti-government protests earlier this year. People are angry not only with pensions but low salaries, worsening prospects, the state of public services and what one demonstrator called “the feeling of being forgotten”.