Opponents of France’s pension reform are undeterred by its final adoption in April, after months of protests, and are calling again for today’s 14th day of demonstrations against the law that moves the retirement age to 64.

The 14th day of protests since the beginning of the year may be the swan song of an unprecedented mass protest movement characterized by mass strikes and demonstrations which failed to shake the determination of the Macron government.

The French government used all available constitutional tools – including the article that allows a bill to be passed without a vote in Parliament – to push through the reform, which came into effect on April 14 after being endorsed by the Constitutional Court.

The bra-de-fer between the government and the opponents of the reform left deep scars. The new day of mobilizations is taking place in a tense atmosphere, despite the fact that President Macron is seeking to regain the initiative by introducing new topics on the agenda.

French unions are organizing 250 demonstrations and rallies across France and Frédéric Souillot, general secretary of the FO union, appears optimistic. “There will be people on the street,” he assured speaking to the France 2 network this morning, betting on the participation of a million people, while the authorities predict a mobilization of 400,000-600,000 people.

“It won’t be the biggest mobilization either,” admits Céline Verzeletti, secretary of the CGT confederation. “There will be a small number of strikes”, in any case in Education, admits Benoit Test of the Fédération Syndicale Unitaire, a trade union in the education sector who speaks of “the end of a cycle”.

Strikes have been called at electricity and natural gas companies, as well as rail and air transport.

This morning, some bus services in the city of Rennes have been disrupted due to the blockade of a train station by protesters.

About 11,000 police and gendarmes are on foot, 4,000 in Paris. Authorities expect participation in the protests by members of the far left from abroad, according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanen, who will come to join the ranks of the rioters who are wreaking havoc and clashing with the forces of order.

“We expect riots and black blocs and we will break them up,” said Paris police chief Laurent Nunies.

The “last battle”

The day of mobilizations is organized two days before the debate in the Parliament of a proposed law that aims to abolish the reform and does not have much chance of passing.

A parliamentary committee removed from the proposed law the key article referring to the reform’s retirement age limit and, although amendments were added to restore the article and the essence of the proposed law, the speaker of the French National Assembly, Yael Brown-Pivet, has warned that it will declare them inadmissible by invoking a constitutional provision that prohibits MPs from tabling amendments that reduce public resources or increase public expenditure.

“It will be a clear scandal of democracy,” warned CGT general secretary Sophie Binet.

The general secretary of the CFDT trade union, Laurent Berget, denounced for his part a “democratic flaw” recalling that the reform was never put to a vote. However, he appears to have conceded defeat to the French unions by stating that “of course (…) the text will be implemented when the time comes”.

CFTC chairman Cyril Champanier said in mid-March that June 8 would likely be “the last battle.”

The French government is trying to turn the page and already on Sunday the first two circulars were published in the Government Gazette for the implementation of the reform of the pension system and in particular the progressive increase of the age limit.

France is one of the European countries with the lowest retirement age, although national systems differ.