In France, a major strike started on Thursday morning against the planned pension reform. The ferry service on the English Channel between Calais and Dover was halted in the morning due to the nationwide strike. Up to 750,000 people are expected to take part in the strike against what is likely to be President Emmanuel Macron’s most important project.
His government wants to gradually increase the regular retirement age from 62 to 64 years. In addition, the number of payment years required for a full pension must increase more rapidly. The cabinet wants to increase the minimum pension to around 1,200 euros per month. People who started working early have to retire earlier.
According to the cabinet, the current pension system is approaching a funding shortfall. Unions, the left and the nationalist right criticize the project as brutal and unjust. Strikes were announced at schools, air traffic controllers, railways and hospitals.
Ferry traffic came to a standstill
As the Port of Dover, England, announced, all connections to and from Calais in France were suspended from 07:00 (local time) and operations should therefore not resume until 14:00. Ferries to and from Dunkirk, which is also in France, are operating as planned, it said. Passengers have been asked to prepare for the increased traffic around the port of Dover.
Source: Krone
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