France is preparing for a ritual there - a massive protest that shuts down the country.
法国正准备举行一场仪式——一场导致整个国家陷入瘫痪的大规模抗议活动。
And that's what labor unions are attempting, to protest President Emmanuel Macron's plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
工会试图抗议总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙将退休年龄从62岁提高到64岁的计划。
Now, they've held other strikes this year, but now plan for an open-ended strike that could last for days.
他们今年已举行了多场罢工,但他们现在计划举行一场可能持续数天的开放式罢工。
This is a business student in Paris.
这是巴黎一位商科学生的言论。
What she's saying there is a day, once in a while - that's fine. But you shouldn't block the economy either, and that's not how we will progress.
她表示一天,一段时间一次,没关系。但你不应该阻碍经济发展,这不是我们前进的方式。
NPR correspondent Eleanor Beardsley is in the streets of Paris. Hey there, Eleanor.
NPR记者埃莉诺·比尔兹利将从巴黎街头带来报道。你好,埃莉诺。
Hi, guys.
嗨, 大家好。
Where are you exactly, and what are you seeing?
你在哪个位置,看到了什么?
Well, I'm in the street in the 15th arrondissement.
嗯,我现在身处巴黎第15区的街上。
And actually, what I'm seeing is a calmer day than usual. There seems to be less traffic. Almost feels like a normal day, but it's not.
实际上,我看到的是比平时更平静的一天。车辆似乎比往常更少。感觉像是正常的一天,但事实并非如此。
With the public transport all but shut down, people are getting to work on bike and foot, and many companies told employees just to work from home today.
由于公共交通几乎全部关闭,人们开始骑自行车或步行上班,许多公司告诉员工今天只能居家办公。
Now, the big protest marches in Paris and in more than 200 cities across the country start this afternoon, but the chaos has already begun, really.
现在,巴黎以及法国200多个城市的大规模抗议游行今天下午开始,但混乱已经开始了。
Many schools are closed as teachers and students join the protest.
许多学校因教师和学生加入抗议活动而停课。
Oil refineries are blocked, and truckers have started blocking roads in what's known as an operation escargot.
炼油厂被封锁起来,卡车司机开始封锁道路,这被称为“蜗牛行动”。
It means you drive slowly in every lane, block the highway and force the traffic to crawl along at a snail's pace.
也就是说,在每条车道上慢速开车,从而堵塞高速公路,迫使车辆以蜗牛般的速度缓慢前进。
So how long will this last?
那么这种情况会持续多久?
It could last one day, two days, all week or even longer.
这一行动可能会持续一天、两天、一周甚至更长时间。
At the end of the day, the unions will vote to decide whether it continues. But they seem determined. We think it's going to continue.
工会将在当天结束时投票决定是否继续行动。但他们似乎决心已定。我们认为行动会持续下去。
Here is the head of the hard-line union, the CGT, Philippe Martinez, speaking on the radio. He's talked about the movement going into higher gear. Here he is.
以下是立场坚定的法国总工会主席菲利普·马丁内斯在广播中发表的讲话。他谈到运动进入了更高的档位。以下是他的发言。
So basically, he said the responsibility for this mess is totally the French government's, which is trying to ignore this massive protest movement. And he says, we won't stop until this bill is withdrawn completely.
总的说来,他表示这场混乱的责任完全在法国政府,他们试图忽视这场大规模抗议运动。他表示,直到完全撤销这个法案,我们才会停止。
Is the government likely to back off on its proposed pension changes?
政府有可能放弃其拟议的养老金改革吗?
So far, no. The bill is in the Senate, where it should be approved today.
目前为止不会放弃。该法案目前已提交参议院,将于今天获得通过。
You know, they say that the - with people living longer, people just have to work a little bit longer to keep the system.
他们表示,随着人们寿命的延长,人们只需要工作更久一点来维持这个系统。
It's kind of like our Social Security system.
这有点像我们的社会保障体系。
You pay in - people who work pay in for those who are retired.
工作的人付钱给退休人员。
And, you know, they say we have to raise the minimum - it's the minimum retirement age - 62 to 64. Most people retire at 64.
他们说我们必须提高最低退休年龄,从62岁提高到64岁。大多数人64岁退休。
But that will mean that everybody works a little longer. And so, no, this is likely to be a big standoff that goes on.
但这意味着每个人都要工作更长时间。所以,这很可能是一场大对峙。
Well, I suppose the politicians must be listening to the people and presuming that they have some public support somewhere, even though there's all these people who are going to protest.
嗯,我猜想政客一定是在倾听人民的声音,认为他们得到了某处公众的支持,即使所有这些人都要抗议。