France gears up for fresh protests against pension reforms on Labor Day

Paris, May 1 (EFE).- Unions in France, on the occasion of Labor Day on Monday, are expected to hold demonstrations across the country against the pension reforms enacted by the government.

Some 300 demonstrations are to be held across the country, in which hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part.

The protests also come after French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said she would convene them in the coming days not to discuss the pension reform – to be implemented from September onwards -, but other matters to help tackle the social crisis.

Meanwhile, the authorities are apprehensive about possible cases of violence, since the secret services believe that many radicals could join in the protests and create disturbances, like in many of the 12 days of mobilization since the movement began in January.

The Interior Ministry has planned a deployment of 12,000 officers across France, 5,000 of them in Paris, where the march takes place from the early afternoon between the Place de la République and the Place de la Nation.

Trade union leaders also seek to meet Tuesday morning to decide how to continue the fight against French President Emmanuel Macron’s reform, which extends the current minimum retirement age from 62 to 64.

May Day is also set to be marked by protests in sectors such as airports, where a strike by air controllers could force operators in the nine major airports in France to cancel up to one-third of their flights. EFE

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