36th day of strike in France, neither workers nor Macron are backing down

(Patria) – Public transport in France will once again be in a state of chaos on Thursday due to the announced continuation of the mass strike which has entered its 36th day.

This social movement, which began as a strike against the government's pension reform plan, is one of the longest of its kind in French history.

Public railways have already announced major disruptions to regular services, as well as possible long waits at stations.

Delays and cancellations of commercial flights and maritime transport are possible, as air traffic controllers and port workers have also joined the strike. Some unions have also called for a blockade of work processes in oil refineries.

The main protest will be held in Paris, starting in the early afternoon. The strike will continue in other major cities such as Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille, and Rennes.

Citizens of France are protesting against President Macron's plan to consolidate the pension system, and one of the consequences of the reform is that the average salary over all years of employment would be taken into account when determining the pension amount, instead of the last 5, which would result in significantly lower pensions for French workers, according to unions.

The reform also envisages the abolition of 'early retirement' for certain sectors, particularly in administration.

After the protests culminated on December 5, when about one and a half million workers took to the streets, unions hope to achieve such numbers again in the new wave of protests starting on Thursday.

However, polls show that the movement is beginning to wane – Le Journal du Dimanche reported that only 44% of French citizens support the strike, which is 7% less than in the previous poll conducted in mid-December. Also, 75% of respondents believe that the French president will not yield to the strikers' demands.

Indeed, in his New Year's address to the nation, Macron emphasized that he would 'see the reform through to the end', because abandoning the reform 'would mean betraying our children, their children, who would pay the price for our failure', Euronews writes.