Hoi polloi threaten to plunge the hoity-toity into darkness in France ahead of mass strikes

Paris: France’s hardline CGT union has threatened to cut off power to lawmakers and billionaires ahead of a nationwide strike on Thursday, in what is turning out to be an acrimonious showdown over the French government’s plan to change the retirement age. The proposed bill, that the Macron government announced last week, intends to push the retirement age to 64 from 62, a move that opinion polls indicate is opposed by a vast majority of workers already facing a huge cost-of-living crisis. Across sectors, including transport, education and energy, employees will take part in Thursday’s strike, with major protest marches expected in capital Paris and other French cities. The current surge of strikes is also being seen as a test of whether unions, who in the past have struggled to convince people to strike, can transform this anger into a mass social protest across Europe. “I suggest they also go see the nice properties, the nice castles of billionaires,” Philippe Martinez, leader of the CGT, France’s second-largest trade union, told a television channel on Wednesday. “It would be good if we cut off their electricity so that they can put themselves, for a few days, in the shoes of … French people who can’t afford to pay their bills,” he said. Sebastien Menesplier, belonging to CGT’s energy and mine branch, has also threatened electricity cuts targeting the offices of MPs, local media quoted him as saying. French government spokesperson Olivier Veran said threats to cut power supply were “unacceptable”. On Thursday, in Paris, public transport will be the most affected with most trains as well as some flights cancelled and the city’s subway heavily disrupted. Seven out of 10 primary school teachers will walk off their jobs, as will many refinery workers, unions and transport operators said. Reacting to the mass strikes, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said there will be more than 10,000 police personnel on the ground during the protest marches, a third of which will be held in Paris. According to police intelligence, there could be about 1,000 potentially violent people present at several rallies in Paris on Thursday, he told RTL radio, saying they were from the radical left or the old Yellow Vest movement. France has a decades-long history of attempts to reform its pension system – one of the most generous and costly in Europe– and of protests to try to stop them. The new bill is yet to be adopted in parliament, where President Emmanuel Macron does not have an absolute majority but is hoping to get the votes of the conservative Les Republicains. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.