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LATEST: French unions call new strikes after government pushes through pension reform

French unions have called a new day of strikes after President Emmanuel Macron's government decided to force through controversial pension reform plans without a parliamentary vote.

LATEST: French unions call new strikes after government pushes through pension reform
Protesters gather outside the French parliament on Thursday. Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP

The eight main union federations announced a new day of “strong mobilisation” against the plans on Thursday, March 23rd.

The announcement came just hours after Emmanuel Macron’s government decided to ram the highly controversial pension reform bill through parliament without a vote, using the power known as Article 49.3.

CGT spokesman Catherine Perret, speaking on behalf of the eight union federations, called for “local unions rallies” at the weekend, followed by another “big day of mobilisation” on March 23rd.

Precise details will be announced nearer the time, but it’s likely that Thursday will see major disruption.

Marches, strikes and no-confidence vote: How France reacted to Macron’s pension decision

Unions have been staging one-day strikes since the pension reform debates first started on January 31st that have disrupted services such as trains, city public transport and schools, although disruption has been less severe in the most recent actions.

Although most workers had opted for one-day strikes, some unions had called rolling strikes, including train drivers and waste collectors.

On Thursday the government used a rarely-used power known as requisition to force striking waste collectors in Paris back to work after 7,000 tonnes of uncollected garbage piled up on the city streets.

You can follow the latest strike announcements in our strike calendar HERE

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POLITICS

New Caledonia airport to reopen Monday, curfew reduced: authorities

New Caledonia's main international airport will reopen from Monday after being shut last month during a spate of deadly unrest, the high commission in the French Pacific territory said, adding a curfew would also be reduced.

New Caledonia airport to reopen Monday, curfew reduced: authorities

The commission said Sunday that it had “decided to reopen the airport during the day” and to “push back to 8:00 pm (from 6:00 pm) the start of the curfew as of Monday”.

The measures had been introduced after violence broke out on May 13 over a controversial voting reform that would have allowed long-term residents to participate in local polls.

The archipelago’s Indigenous Kanaks feared the move would dilute their vote, putting hopes for eventually winning independence definitively out of reach.

READ ALSO: Explained: What’s behind the violence on French island of New Caledonia?

Barricades, skirmishes with the police and looting left nine dead and hundreds injured, and inflicted hundreds of millions of euros in damage.

The full resumption of flights at Tontouta airport was made possible by the reopening of an expressway linking it to the capital Noumea that had been blocked by demonstrators, the commission said.

Previously the airport was only handling a small number of flights with special exemptions.

Meanwhile, the curfew, which runs until 6:00 am, was reduced “in light of the improvement in the situation and in order to facilitate the gradual return to normal life”, the commission added.

French President Emmanuel Macron had announced on Wednesday that the voting reform that touched off the unrest would be “suspended” in light of snap parliamentary polls.

Instead he aimed to “give full voice to local dialogue and the restoration of order”, he told reporters.

Although approved by both France’s National Assembly and Senate, the reform had been waiting on a constitutional congress of both houses to become part of the basic law.

Caledonian pro-independence movements had already considered reform dead given Macron’s call for snap elections.

“This should be a time for rebuilding peace and social ties,” the Kanak Liberation Party (Palika) said Wednesday before the announcement.

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