The first major day of protest against the French government’s planned pension reform drew more than a million people in several cities on Thursday. Mass strikes paralyzed parts of public life, affecting schools, trains, local transport in Paris, refineries and public services, among other things.
According to the Interior Ministry, 1.12 million people demonstrated across the country, 80,000 of them in Paris. The secretary general of the CGT trade union federation, Philippe Martinez, estimated the number of demonstrators across France at “more than two million”. According to the CGT, 400,000 people demonstrated in Paris.
There were isolated riots in the center of Paris. Protesters threw bottles, bins and smoke grenades at police officers, who responded with tear gas, AFP journalists reported. In the east of the city, a group of young demonstrators also clashed with security forces in the evening. Police reported nearly 40 arrests.
“Metro Labor Cemetery”
However, the more than 200 protests across the country remained largely peaceful. “Macron wants us to die at work,” said Hamidou, a 43-year-old garbage man who attended the demonstration in Paris. “Some of my colleagues get up at 3 am. We can’t work until we’re 64,” he said.
Béatrice, who has been receiving her pension since January, said: “I have been counting contributions for more than 40 years to get a small pension now.” Posters read: “Metro Work Cemetery”.
Rare unity of all unions
“If all unions agree, which is rare, it shows how big the problem is,” CGT union leader Martinez told Public Sénat. In addition Strike the eight largest trade unions met. “A lot of people who don’t normally take to the streets are there this time,” CFDT boss Berger told broadcaster BFM.
With the reform, the government wants to secure the financing of the pension system in the long term. The retirement age will be raised from 62 to 64 years. Macron had originally set a target of 65 years. Special arrangements should continue to exist for people who started working very early and for people with particularly strenuous jobs. At the same time, the minimum pension will be increased to 1,200 euros. The government also wants to ensure that more seniors than before continue to work. By the end of 2021, only 36 percent of 60 to 64-year-olds had a job.
Macron’s first attempt in 2019 failed
Macron had already tried in 2019 to simplify the complicated French pension system and to force the French to work longer. This had led to the longest wave of protests since the student uprising of 1968, when the reform project was initially halted due to the corona pandemic.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
