The French today are invited to participate in ninth day of mobilizations in two months against the very unpopular pension reform system adopted without a vote in parliament the day after Macron’s television interview which angered the unions and the opposition.

Opponents of the reform have been called by unions to take to the streets and strike, for the ninth time since January 19 and the first time at the national level since the adoption of the bill.

During his interview yesterday, after several weeks of social unrest, Emmanuel Macron insisted that the reform should be put into effect before the end of the year admitting her unpopularity.

“This reform is not a pleasure, it is not a luxury, it is a necessity,” he said, citing the defense of the “general interest” in the face of the financial exhaustion of the insurance system’s funds and the aging of the population.

The main measure of the reform is the raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.

France is one of them few European countries where the retirement age limit is so low.

Opponents of the reform call it “unfair”, especially for women and for workers in heavy occupations.

“There is a before and an after”

Today’s mobilization day started with blockades of oil facilities, ports, highways, air transport, the natural gas sector and universities.

Nationally, the situation worsens slightly for fuel, with 14% of stations experiencing shortages of at least one type of fuel and 7.13% completely empty, compared to 6% on Tuesday.

Only one TotalEnergies refinery in four is currently operating in France.

The level of kerosene supply of the Paris region and its airports through Normandy “is at a critical level”, the Energy Transition Ministry said today, as it is ready to mobilize the strikers.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has asked for today’s airlines to cancel 30% of their flights from Paris-Orly airport and 20% from other airports.

The ports of Marseille and Brest are completely blocked by decision of the CGT union.

Today, the French railway company SNCF is unable to operate 50% of high-speed trains and a third of local express trains.

Paris metro traffic is expected to be “very disrupted”.

THE garbage collection workers strikewhich started on March 6, has been extended until Monday.

Yesterday, Emmanuel Macron confirmed that he has no intention of dissolving parliament, proceeding with a government reshuffle or calling a referendum on reform.

He said he wants the dialogue with the social partners to resume in a few days or weeks, when the tension has subsided.

The head of the CFDT trade union, Laurent Berget, responded that these are “empty words (…) at the moment there is a great social conflict, a crisis of democracy, a social crisis”.

Analysts believe that the reform and the popular reaction will indelibly mark the second presidential term of Emmanuel Macron.

“When the mobilizations end, a conflict of this kind, we cannot think that we will erase it. There is a before and an after, there is a dispute that will remain about the retirement age,” Labor Minister Olivier Dussor admitted to the RTL radio network.

“But there are issues that allow the dialogue to resume.”