This Thursday marks the fifth day of mobilization against the pension reform. In Paris, the demonstration will begin at 2 p.m. on Place de la Bastille and will move towards Place d’Italie. The previous event had gathered, Tuesday, February 7, between 87,000 and 500,000 people, and the mobilization does not seem to weaken. The unions are now threatening a renewable strike and a “blockage” of the country.
Slight transport disruptions
Traffic promises to be little disturbed in the metro, for trams as well as for buses this Thursday. The SNCF plans 4 TGV and Ouigo out of 5, 1 Intercités out of 2 and 1 TER out of 2. In Île-de-France, two thirds of the Transilien and RER lines will be disrupted, with between 1 train out of 2 and 2 trains out of 3, according to The Point.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is asking airlines to cancel 30% of their flights at Paris-Orly this Thursday, February 16 and 20% of flights at the airports of Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, Montpellier and Nantes.
Traffic restrictions
The Parisian demonstrators will take Boulevard Henri-IV and cross the Seine via the Pont de Sully, before joining Boulevard de l’Hôpital via the Saint-Bernard quays. An alternate route could be set up via rue de Lyon and boulevard Vincent-Auriol, via the Charles-de-Gaulle bridge and avenue Pierre-Mendès-France.
Schools: two out of three zones on leave
Students in zone C (Paris, Créteil, Montpellier, Toulouse, Versailles) and Corsica could be affected by class or school closures during the strike. But, to date, no call for a strike has been launched by the teachers’ unions. The pupils of zone A and zone B are on vacation.
Put France to a standstill
Philippe Martinez, Secretary General of the CGT on BFMTV, called for “harder, more numerous, more massive, and renewable strikes”. A new day of mobilization has already been announced on March 7, 2023. The intersyndicale said it was ready to “put France to a halt”.