French unions have called for another national day of protest against the government’s pension reform plan on Thursday – the day the plans come before the French parliament.

But, two months in to the social movement, the level of disruption was expected to be low compared to what the country saw in the early days of the social movement. Transport is running almost as normal across the country – even in Paris, which was the area hardest hit by the unions’ action in December.

A protest march is planned for Paris in the afternoon, and some Metro stations along the route of the march will close by order of the police. The march is set to depart at the Gare de l’Est station at 1.30 pm and move west to end at Nation.

The number of people taking to the streets on protest days has been dwindling since the beginning of the movement. On January 29th, 108,000 people took to the streets nationally, according to the French Interior Ministry.

In comparison, the number was 615,000 on December 17th. The CGT union’s estimates were higher, it said 180,000 people turned up in Paris alone on January 29th and 1.8 million nationally on December 17th.

There are several reasons for the decline in people taking to the streets. Firstly, the financial strain on the workers taking part in the movement has been palpable.

French public sector workers forfeit their salaries during strikes. Rail employees who joined the mass-strike in December received empty pay slips in January. Secondly, some of the unions have dropped out of the movement.

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