French unions said more than 2.5 million protesters took the the streets across the nation on Saturday to keep up pressure on the government over its deeply unpopular pensions reform. The Interior Ministry put that figure at 963,000, but admitted that protest numbers had swelled for the fourth day of demonstrations.
Unions and political opponents of President Emmanuel Macron's plan to raise the retirement age to 64 were looking to rally momentum by getting families and employees who haven't been unable to strike out onto streets across the country.
More than 200 marches were held in cities and towns as demonstrators sang, danced and vented their anger as the government's determination to forge ahead with its pensions project.
The hardline CGT union said 500,000 people marched through Paris, where police intervened after some protesters damaged buildings and set fire to a car.
Mostly festive
For the most part the protests were festive, though there were scenes of disruption in Paris, where police pelted with projectiles fired tear gas in response. Authorities blamed "radical elements" within the otherwise peaceful protest.
Throughout France some 10,000 police officers were mobilised, including 4,500 in Paris. Turnout figures given by the authorities – 57,000 in Paris – were vastly different from those given by the unions.
Saturday's protests mark the first time since the beginning of the movement that unions have called people onto the streets on a weekend.
On Tuesday, the marches were attended by about 757,000 people nationwide, the Interior Ministry said. Those numbers are well below the 1.27 million who turned out on 31 January and the 1.1 million on 19 January.
'Harden the movement'
France's eight main unions have agreed on a fifth day of strikes and demonstrations on Thursday, 16 February.
They are also considering organising further protest days on 7 and 8 March, when the government's pension reform bill will be debated in the Senate.
Unions wanting to "harden the movement" on Saturday said they were ready to "bring France to a standstill" on 7 March "if the government remains deaf to the protest".
The head of the CGT union, Philippe Martinez, indicated there would be no let up in the fight, warning that more "numerous, massive and rolling" strikes were coming if the government did not drop the pensions plan.
"If the government keeps on refusing to listen then of course things will have to be ratcheted up," he said.
Unpopular reform
Macron put raising the retirement age and encouraging the French to work more at the heart of his re-election campaign last year, but polls suggest that two-thirds of people are against the changes.
Parliamentarians began debating the reform, which would see the age for a full pension raised from 62 to 64 and the mandatory number of years of work extended for a full pension, during a stormy session at the National Assembly on Monday.
Left-wing opponents of the administration filed thousands of amendments before the start of the parliamentary debate. This makes a vote on the final text unlikely before the 17 February deadline.
Macron says the reform is "vital" to ensuring the viability of the pension system.
Voltuan: the French activist behind a thousand protest slogans. Click on RFI's interview below:
