SHOTLIST:

HAUTS-DE-SEINE, FRANCE (OCT. 16, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL)

1. MEMBER WORKERS OF FRANCE'S GENERAL CONFEDERATION OF LABOR (CGT) UNION OUTSIDE OF AUCHAN STORE

2. CGT WORKERS GOING DOWN ON ESCALATOR

3. VARIOUS OF CGT WORKERS DEMONSTRATING INSIDE AUCHAN STORE

4. POLICE OFFICERS INTERVENING PROTESTERS (TWO SHOTS)

5. VARIOUS OF CGT WORKERS DEMONSTRATING INSIDE AUCHAN STORE

6. CLOSED REGISTER

7. SHOPPING BINS TIPPED OVER ON FLOOR

6. CGT FLAGS INSIDE STORE

7. ENTRANCE OF AUCHAN STORE

8. POLICE CARS OUTSIDE OF MALL

9. WIDE SHOT OF LA DEFENSE PLAZA (TWO SHOTS) HAUTS-DE-SEINE, FRANCE - OCT. 16: The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) union launched a strike Wednesday, Oct. 16, in the Hauts-de-Seine department near Paris, demanding the repeal of France’s pension reform, higher wages, and an end to layoffs.

As part of the protest, demonstrators blocked the entrance of an Auchan store at the La Defense shopping center, one of the capital’s main business districts.

The protest comes amid ongoing budget debates and discussions over a possible suspension of the pension reform. Demonstrators called for the complete withdrawal of the reform.

The pension reform, pushed through in 2023 under former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and later defended by successive governments, sought to gradually raise France’s retirement age from 62 to 64, triggering one of the longest strike waves in decades.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who returned to office last week after briefly resigning amid political turmoil, told lawmakers that he would propose a bill this autumn to freeze the reform until January 2028, keeping the contribution period at 170 quarters.