Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Paris France’s largest general strike since 1995 got off to a roaring start as 90% of public transport was shut down nationwide and workers walked off the job in massive numbers.

Well over a million people marched against the radical pension rollback threatened by President Emmanuel Macron. The government wants to create the world’s first universal pension system, which is still shrouded in mystery but will include a back door raising of the retirement age by two years, to 64.

Hundreds of arrests were made as police used tear gas and violence against peaceful demonstrators around the country.

The protest in Paris was hijacked by Black Bloc extremists, who stopped their fellow citizens from marching for nearly 4 hours as police refused to seriously confront them.  Seventy percent of the country supports the strike and 70% does not trust the neoliberal and globalist Macron with something as important as pension reform.

Petrol shortages are increasing, a truckers strike starts this weekend and public sector workers in schools, hospitals and general administration have committed to open-ended strikes.

The question on everyone’s mind is: How long will the strike last? The country looks certain to be shut down until at least December 9th, but nobody knows what will happen next week, when the government finally releases more details about their radical project.

The details could inflame the country even further.

The widespread protest turnout and job walk outs should show the government that they now have a major fight on their hands.

Today was just the beginning, and the end doesn’t appear to be anytime soon.