On Thursday, French unions called workers out on a new strike against a bitterly opposed pension reform being debated in parliament.
90,000 demonstrators took to the streets in Marseille on Thursday, according to the unions. This number is a clear decline compared to the last day of protest, 11 February, where the union had claimed 140,000 demonstrators were rallying.
The protests are a crucial test both for Macron and his opponents. The government has insisted it’s determined to push through Macron’s election pledge to reform France’s generous pension system.
Of the 38 member nations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, France is among countries that spend the most years in retirement.
Hundreds of protesters took the streets on Thursday (February 16) in the northern French town of Douai, to protest French President Emmanuel Macron's proposed pensions reform.
Demonstrators appeared determined though strikes have shown signs of faltering ahead of a key parliamentary vote on raising the retirement age by two years to 64.
"I am in a positive state of mind because I see a lot of people on the street, taking part in the gathering. This has not happened in Douai since 1995, which means people are fed up," said protester Alain Bruneel.
Unions were in a race against time to keep up pressure on the government, as their fifth day of protests against the reforms came just two days before the winter school holidays that could break their momentum.
Unions have so far been successful in mobilising bigger and more diverse crowds to protest on the streets, especially in small and mid-sized cities across France, with a demonstration on Jan. 31 attracting 1.27 million people. Staging the main march in Albi and not Paris was an attempt to amplify that.
But the number of people downing tools and stopping work showed signs of weakening, as workers felt the pinch of lower salaries for each strike day.
Macron is pushing for the reform, which he has said is vital to avoid the collapse of the creaking state pension system.
The government is short of an outright majority and needs to win over several dozen lawmakers from Les Republicains party in the lower house, before the bill passes to the conservative-controlled Senate, the upper house.
