France protests: Labour union says it has cut power to Paris Olympics sites

French labour union said on Thursday that they havecut the power to Paris 2024 Olympic building sites, news agency AFP reported. The development comes after the Frenchsenate on Thursday voted to raise the retirement age by two years to 64, in the face of strong opposition from labour unions.

The legislative body voted in favour of a decisive article to raise the age of retirement by 201 votes to 115.

The affected sites include the building sites for the Olympic Village for the 2024 Paris Olympics, as well as the main Stade de France stadium.

For the third day in a row, unions have kept up the resisting actions to force Macron government to drop the plan of raising the retirement age.

The governmentsays raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 and tightening the requirements for a full pension are necessary to keep the French pension system from sinking into deficit.

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"Faced with a government that refuses to budge, we too are refusing to budge," Sebastien Menesplier, secretary general of the hardline CGT union's energy branch, was quoted as saying by AFP.

"I appeal to the responsibility of the government and the president of the republic: withdraw your reform and the electricians and the gas workers will work for the public service and the general interest", he added.

France protests: How the supplies to Olympic sites were cut off?

Reports in the French media said that about three hundred men were present to cut off the supplies. Some, hooded, raised their arms and lit smoke bombs to hide those who cut the power from the cameras.

Strikers in the energy sector have since Tuesday staged wildcat power cuts, plunging certain sites across the country into darkness.

Government spokesman Olivier Veran on Wednesday condemned the wildcat cuts while expressing respect for the right to express disagreement in the street.

"We condemn calls to bring our economy to its knees because this is irresponsible. The only thing we want to bring to its knees is unemployment," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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