Paris (AFP)

New difficult weekend for Parisian train and transport users, in the midst of holidaymakers: France saw its 24th day of strike on Saturday, marked by local demonstrations at the call of the unions most mobilized against the reform retirements.

With the approach of New Year's Eve, social protest against the project of "universal" system by points wanted by Emmanuel Macron is heading for a new record.

Now longer than that of 1995 in transport (22 days), the conflict could exceed the 28 days reached in 1986-1987 at the SNCF, also without Christmas break. Especially since the resumption of consultations between the government and union and employer organizations is only scheduled for January 7.

In the meantime, several unions have called protests on Saturday, which were to be joined by "yellow vests".

In Paris, around 300 of them, including Jérôme Rodrigues, a figure in the movement, left Place de la Bourse shortly before 12:30 p.m. Signs proclaimed "Pivotal Age, Tomb Age", echoing the "equilibrium age" with a bonus-penalty that the government wants to set at 64 years in 2027, or "Strike, blocking, Macron clears" , noted an AFP journalist.

These "yellow vests" could converge on the interprofessional demonstration organized in Paris by the regional unions CGT, FO, Solidaires and FSU, which must start from the Gare du Nord at 1:00 p.m.

"Thinking about retirement is complicated for many of us because it is already difficult to finish the month, however it is basically the same fight," Jérôme Rodrigues told AFP. According to him, "the convergence of struggles" is not self-evident because "the trade union elites" do not "want to integrate us into the processions".

Franck, 38, a RER driver, has been following the movement of "yellow vests" since December 1, 2018, and also believes that "the strike against pension reform is the same fight".

"The + yellow vests + are on our procession, so we are going on theirs," he said, surrounded by five other RATP agents.

The CGT-Cheminots, the first SNCF union, also calls for demonstrations in many cities in the regions, such as Rennes, Le Mans, Nancy or Saint-Etienne.

- 300,000 tickets available -

For travelers, the transport situation remained complicated, with an average of 6 TGVs out of 10 and 1 Transilien out of 5 in circulation until Sunday evening, and another six metro lines closed on Saturday in Paris.

SNCF plans to operate three TER out of ten on Saturday, 4 TER out of ten on Sunday, and an average of three Intercités over ten over the weekend.

"Today, there is better, with 20% more trains," said the Minister for Ecological Transition, Elisabeth Borne, on Saturday after a visit to the National Center of Railway Operations of SNCF. , near the Gare de l'Est.

"What we can say today is that there are 800,000 places available this weekend and at this stage 500,000 passengers. This means that there are places on the trains for those who have need to travel this weekend, "she added.

- "To absent subscribers" -

Despite the calls of Emmanuel Macron, but also of the general secretary of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, who supports the principle of a universal retirement system even if he opposes the establishment of a pivotal age (just as CFTC and Unsa), no truce was reached for the holiday season.

The Unsa railway invited to "a break for the holidays", without always being followed by its base.

"What we had to obtain on the special SNCF and RATP regimes, we got it, the subject is not there. The subject now is to obtain guarantees for the whole employees, "said a union official, Thierry Marty, on Saturday on BFMTV. He warned that the rail workers would be "able, if the negotiations in early January go badly, to re-mobilize stronger than they are today".

After days of silence, the speech of the President of the Republic on December 31, for his wishes to the French, is eagerly awaited.

The "deadlock situation" is "caused by this government", which is "absent subscribers", he denounced.

© 2019 AFP