CNN
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Protesters stormed an airport in southwestern France on Tuesday as part of demonstrations against the country’s proposed pension reforms, which have sparked mass protests and paralyzed key services across the country in recent weeks.
Videos on social media verified by CNN show smoke bombs being released by protesters outside Biarritz Airport’s entrance, and the terminal’s boarding area, before an evacuation announcement was played over loudspeakers.
Tuesday was the 10th day of action against French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to raise the retirement age for most workers from 62 to 64, in a move that angered opposition lawmakers and labor unions. .
Macron’s government pushed a bill through parliament without a vote last week, after two failed no-confidence votes that cleared the way for pension reforms.
The government is pushing through the hugely unpopular bill because it says relying on the working population to pay for the growing age group of retirees is no longer fit for purpose.
Blocking airports is a tactic used by anti-pension reform protesters across the country, with terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle airport, just north of Paris, also cut off on Thursday morning.
At least four groups can be identified in the footage based on their insignia, including a local Basque trade union and two national associations – the CGT Departmental Union of Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Fédération syndicale unitaire (FSU).
The FSU – which streamed live video from Tuesday’s protest inside the airport – is one of France’s main trade unions in its education sector, representing “162,000 members, of which 88% are teacher,” according to its website.
The CGT is one of five major unions nationwide, with branches across the country.
CNN attempted to contact the FSU and CGT and could not independently confirm how many people were present at the airport protest or how the event unfolded.
