Referring to the data of the French trade union — «CFDT», the AFP news agency reports that the second day of a major nationwide strike, which began on September 6 in France, was able to gather about 2.5 million protesters on the streets of this country..
The agency also notes that according to official estimates, the number of people participating in the strike was much lower than indicated by the trade unions. However, both unions and police testified on September 7 that the total number of strikers on the streets exceeded that of the nationwide strike in June. Then, according to the calculations of the French authorities, the number of strikers was about 800 thousand people, and according to the calculations of the trade unions — 2 million.
Earlier, the Reuters news agency has already reported that the mass demonstrations taking place today will cost the country the cancellation of at least half of the railway flights, a 25% reduction in Paris flights, and will also seriously complicate the work of the metro.
The reason for these strikes was the French government’s plan to increase the retirement age of fellow citizens from 60 to 62 years. So the head of state, Nicolas Sarkozy, said that in his opinion, this pension bill is «an absolute priority», even despite the fact that he was criticized by the leaders of the trade unions. On Tuesday, September 7, this project was presented to parliament, but the session had to be suspended due to the opposing speeches of the communists.
