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The eighth mobilization day in protest against the retirement reform project in France, scheduled for Wednesday, March 15, 2023, is expected to affect transportation in France, especially air traffic.
But the government sought reassurance on Tuesday, as Transport Minister Clement Bonn considered that Wednesday would not be a “black day” for public transport.
However, the minister made it clear, in a statement to France 2 television, that “in terms of air transport, Orly airport (Paris) alone will witness 20 percent fewer flights.”
“I do not think we will witness a black day,” the minister stressed, adding, “The level of disturbances in public transport will not be similar to what we witnessed during the previous days of mobilization.”
At the level of the National Railway Company (SNCF), an extendable strike began on the 7th of March at the call of the railway workers’ unions, and 80% of the high-speed train trips were canceled during the previous mobilization days.
As for air transport, it seems that the number of flights that will be canceled on Wednesday will be less than last week, when, in addition to the Parisian Orly and Roissy airports, it affected airports in other regions and included up to 30% of the flights.
The CGT union, one of the largest in France, called on Monday for a three-day cessation of work in French ports, with the “port paralysis” day ending on Thursday, in protest against the retirement reform project, which stipulates in particular the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
The French trade unions had previously organized seven days of mobilization and action, in which hundreds of thousands of French participated, in an attempt to push the government to abandon this project, but to no avail so far. The French parliament is currently discussing the bill.
