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Black Monday in France as strikes continue

FRENCH workers delivered a “Black Monday” for President Emmanuel Macron as strike action over pension reforms entered a fifth day, with transport grinding to a halt across the country.

Just 15 per cent of normal train services were running and 10 of Paris’s 16 Metro lines in were shut down, with four offering a limited service.

Unions called the general strike in response to Mr Macron’s latest neoliberal reform, this time an attack on pensions. It comes at the behest of the European Union (EU), which has decimated public-sector pensions across member states as they try and reduce public spending. 

Mr Macron’s proposals are for people to work longer in return for a smaller pension pot.

Polls show the strikes, which are set to continue today, have the support of 69 per cent of the public, with the strongest backing coming from 18 to 34-year-olds.

Mr Macron fears a repeat of 1995, when pension reforms had to be shelved after strike action brought transport to a halt for more than three weeks.

The government will announce  details of the proposed reforms on Wednesday.

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