Monaco’s biggest annual event, the Grand Prix, has been threatened with shutdown by the militant French trade union, the CGT.
As part of the long-running protest against French pension reform, which has already entered into law, protesters are continuing their campaign to reverse the decision to raise the retirement age for most workers from 62 to 64.
The union, which was at one time affiliated with the Communist Party, has threatened to disrupt many sporting and cultural events over the next few months
“The Cannes Film Festival, the Monaco Grand Prix, the Roland-Garros tournament, the Avignon festival could end up in the dark! We won’t let go!”, the CGT Union said in on Saturday.
Sophie Binet, the CGT’s leader, said: “We have to continue mobilising until the end, until the government understands there is no way out other than withdrawing this reform. We can’t move on to anything else until this reform is repealed.”
The CGT and the unions of the National Federation of Mines (Energy) (FNME) last week shut off power to Montpelier Airport and a college that Macron was visiting.
Monaco is almost totally dependent on power supplies from France, so there is no reason to doubt the unions’ capabilities. The use of generators as back-up would alleviate any direct impact on the GP event itself, but the wider effect on the Principality during the busiest week off the year could be devastating.
NEWS.MC is reaching out to the Automobile Club for comment.
FILE PHOTO: Practice for the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix Reuters
