In France, the unlimited strike against the pension reform continues. The strikers will begin their tenth day of mobilization on Saturday 14 December. SNCF and RATP traffic is affected. He will still be "very disturbed" all weekend.
"It is a refounding reform above all else," said the President of the Republic on Friday, referring to a project "historic for the country", in response to insistent questions during a press conference in Brussels. The head of state had remained very discreet since the movement began on December 5.
Scathing response from one of the leaders of the dispute, Yves Veyrier, number one of FO, on BFMTV: "The president tends to make history before it has happened. I think we should avoid a historical error. "
During his brief speech, Emmanuel Macron assured not to carry out a "primarily budgetary" reform. Yet this is where the shoe pinches. Since the announcement by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe of an "age of balance" fixed at 64 years, below which a full retirement cannot be touched, the first French union, the CFDT, but also the CFTC and the 'Unsa, are furious.
The organizations called to demonstrate next Tuesday at the same time as the inter-union CGT / FO / CFE-CGC / Solidaires / FSU and four youth organizations, which demand the outright withdrawal of the project.
On the train side, "disrupted" international traffic
For Saturday and Sunday, the SNCF plans to circulate "on average" one TGV out of four and a Transilien (RER, SNCF and commuter trains in the Paris region) out of six.
In the provinces, three TER out of ten links will be provided, "mainly" by coach. International traffic will be "disrupted". Side Intercités, it is expected a train on five Saturday, then a train on ten Sunday.
🔴 National interprofessional strike: rail traffic is still severely disrupted on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 December 2019.
⚠️ @SNCF recommends travelers who can cancel or postpone their trips.
CP: https: //t.co/Mf3FRI1C3u pic.twitter.com/D7lAFV2z1D
The strike is expected to continue on Monday. SNCF has already warned that its service will be "severely disrupted" with daily train traffic "extremely reduced".
On the Paris metro side, a service "very disrupted" on Saturday and "extremely reduced" on Sunday
In the Paris region, RATP traffic will be "very disrupted" on Saturday, then "extremely reduced" on Sunday, said the Paris transport authority. On Saturday and Sunday, the automatic metro lines 1 and 14 will operate normally, like the Orlyval line (shuttle to Orly airport).
[Social Movement] ⚠️ Traffic will be very disrupted Saturday, December 14 on the networks # metro and #RER #RATP. The #bus traffic will be 60% insured and that of #trams will be almost normal. Detailed forecasts are available below ⬇️ and on https://t.co/OElUNYGYky pic.twitter.com/JpFW3Xlh7u
- RATP Group (@RATPgroup) December 13, 2019
On Saturday, lines 2, 3bis, 5, 6, 7bis, 10, 11, 12 and 13 will be closed. Traffic on metro lines 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 will be provided "partially from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.", said RATP. About 60% of the buses will run. Tram service will be "almost normal".
RER A and B RER traffic, operated jointly by the two groups, will be strongly affected this weekend by the strike. The agency announces that they will run Saturday "only" from noon to 6 p.m. on the sections it manages, with one train out of two for RER A and one train out of three for RER B. Traffic on these two lines will be "almost zero" Sunday, warns the group, which will publish its detailed forecast for the next day on Saturday.
On the sections operated by the SNCF, there will be three RER A trains per hour on Saturday and Sunday "between 12 noon and 6 pm on the Cergy branch". On the northern part of the RER B managed by the SNCF, there will be one train out of three until 10 p.m.
With AFP
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