France braces for biggest national strike

France is bracing for severe disruption as millions of workers were scheduled to go on strike, deemed the country’s biggest in years, on Thursday in protest at being forced to retire later or face reduced pensions. School and transport workers will join police, lawyers and hospital and airport staff in a general walkout which was expected to last beyond Thursday, the BBC reported. The strike was agreed by unions unhappy with President Emmanuel Macron’s plans for a universal points-based pension system. France currently has a system of dozens of different schemes. Macron, aware of France’s ageing population, has said his universal pension plan would be fairer than the current system. On Wednesday, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said he expected almost 250 demonstrations nationwide, some of which he said could turn violent.(IANS)

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