Student protests, train strikes put pressure on Macron
University blocked over reforms, which critics say are a rollback of public services
Train drivers, public sector workers and students sought to pile pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday as fresh stoppages on the railways and new protests disrupted travel and universities.
Students occupied the prestigious Sciences Po university in Paris overnight, the latest campus to be blocked by protesters over university reforms which critics see as part of a rollback of public services.
“Sciences Po students against Macron’s dictatorship,” read a banner hung from a window of the Paris university, which has groomed generations of French politicians, including 40-yearold Macron.
The protest, which follows weeks of sit-ins and demonstrations at several universities around the country, came as railway workers launched a fourth round of strikes which led to mass cancellations nationwide.
One in three high-speed TGVs and one in four intercity trains were scheduled yesterday and today.
Eurostar services to London will be only marginally affected however, with four out of five trains set to run as announced.
Today, civil servants, workers in state retirement homes and students have all been called to demonstrate — the second in a month after a day of protests on March 22 which brought around 300,000 onto the street, according to police figures.
Unlike last time, the Paris metro also faces disruptions today.
Adding to the growing picture of defiance, the head of the energy branch of the hardline CGT union, Sebastien Menesplier, also announced Wednesday that workers were looking at “targeted” power cuts.
Macron, who sees his own credibility as a reformer on the line as he prepares to mark the first anniversary of his presidency on May 14, has insisted he will not back down on his bid to shake up the big-spending public sector.