The French National Federation of Chemical Industries, a branch of the country's largest trade union, CGT, on Thursday went on strike for 48 hours. 

In the statement, the two organizations demanded a reduction of the retirement age to 60 for all workers in the sector, an early retirement at 55 for hard work, and an increase in pension based on inflation rate.

These organizations warned that they would continue to launch a new strike on February 6 and increase the strike time to 72 hours, even call for a general strike at oil refineries in France, and repeat the chaos that could lead to the shortage of fuel supplies like last October if the government doesn’t accept concessions.