Protesters march in France amid day of strikes
PARIS — Thousands of protesters, many blowing whistles and waving union flags, marched through Paris and other French cities Thursday in a day of nationwide strikes that kept many children out of school, forced the closing of the Eiffel Tower and canceled about 2,000 flights in and out of France.
Stepping up pressure on President Francois Hollande’s government, the protesters aired an array of grievances against state funding cuts, planned increases in the retirement age and business-friendly reforms that could make firing workers easier.
The strikes, called by key unions like the Communistbacked CGT, in the protestfriendly country follow recent complaints by groups as diverse as doctors and notaries against new government reforms and come on top of strikes by air traffic controllers and workers at the state radio broadcaster.
The CGT union estimated late Thursday that 300,000 people turned out in marches nationwide, including 120,000 in the capital. Paris police put the figure in the city at 32,000.
Workers have traditionally made up the bedrock of support for Hollande’s Socialists, and the protests suggested that his government’s recent move to the political center — including with business-friendly reforms — has rankled many on the left.
The air traffic controllers were holding the second half of a two-day strike. It led to the cancellation of about 2,000 flights, mostly short- and medium-haul routes, in and out of France on Thursday, according to Eric Heraud, spokesman for the French civil aviation agency DGAC.
Their walkout is in part over plans to raise the maximum retirement age to 59. Employees at Radio France, the state-backed broadcaster, were entering the third week of their walkout to protest budget cuts.