Union activists barged into the Paris head-quarters of luxury goods company LVMH on Thursday, saying the French government should shelve plans to make people work longer for their pension and tax the rich more instead.
In a 12th day of nationwide protests since mid-January, striking workers also disrupted garbage collections in Paris and blocked river traffic on part of the Rhine in eastern France.
“You’re looking for money to finance pensions? Take it from the pockets of billionaires,” said Sud Rail union leader Fabien Villedieu, as the LVMH headquarters filled with red smoke from flares. The protesters then left peacefully.
Trade unions urged a show of force on the streets a day before the Constitutional Council’s ruling on the legality of the bill that will raise the state pension age by two years to 64.
Across France, 380,000 demonstrators took part in Thursday’s protest, according to figures from the government. That number included 42,000 at the Paris demonstration. Those figures were down from April 6, when 570,000 demonstrated across France, with 57,000 at last week’s Paris protest.
There were some clashes during Thursday’s rallies, including skirmishes in central Paris, with black-clad protesters throwing projectiles at police who responded with teargas, but this was nowhere near the level of violence seen at some protests last month.—AFP
