1 million people protest the proposed increase in the retirement age in France led by striking workers.
As more than a million people demonstrated against the government’s plans to raise the retirement age for the majority of workers on Thursday, strikes affected railway services, planes, schools, and businesses around France.
Numerous transportation services were halted as a result of protests in major French cities like Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes, and Nice. Visitors couldn’t enter the Eiffel Tower.
More than a million people, according to the French Interior Ministry, went to the streets across the nation, including 80,000 in Paris, where small protesting groups tossed bottles, rocks, and fireworks at riot police.
The government of President Emmanuel Macron’s government revealed pension reforms, and eight of the largest unions participated in industrial action against them.
In opposition to legislation that would raise the age at which French residents must begin earning a state pension from 62 to 64, the unions have called for another day of protest on January 31.
The French government claims that this is required to address a financial gap for pensions, but the reforms have enraged workers at a time when living expenses are soaring.
Among those who skipped work were teachers and transportation employees. According to France’s education ministry, more than 40% of teachers in primary schools and more than a third of teachers in secondary schools went on strike.
SNCF, the French rail company, reported “serious disruption” on train lines throughout France, and RATP, the city’s transportation agency, reported full or partial closures of metro lines in Paris.
Meanwhile, some flights at Orly airport were canceled, and Eurostar reportedly halted a number of services between the French capital and London. A few delays, but no cancellations, were reported at Charles de Gaulle airport as a result of the strike by air traffic controllers.
An estimated two million people participated in more than 200 protests held across France, according to CGT, one of the country’s largest trade union confederations. The organization also reported that the majority of TotalEnergies (TOT) refinery workers went on strike, preventing the delivery of oil products. Fuel supply at TotalEnergies’ network of gas stations won’t be impacted, the company claimed (TOT).
How come people are protesting?
Macron’s proposed pension changes come as workers everywhere, including in France, are feeling the pinch from rising food and energy costs. In the UK, Thursday is also a strike day for nurses and ambulance drivers over pay and working conditions.
Last year, thousands of people participated in large-scale protests over the expense of living in Paris, and just a few months ago, nationwide fuel shortages were brought on by worker strikes calling for higher pay.
“This reform comes at a time when there is a lot of dissatisfaction, rage, and exhaustion. The head of the CFE-CGC union, François Hommeril, said on Tuesday to CNN, “It’s coming at the worst time, in fact.
He was referring to the inflation that has engulfed Europe this year as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a Thursday press conference in Spain, Macron justified the modifications as “fair and responsible.”
We must move through with this reform, he continued, “if you want the contract between generations to be fair.”
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that France spent more on state pensions in 2018 than the majority of other nations, at close to 14% of GDP. How does France stack up?
According to government spokesman Olivier Veran, 40% of French workers would be eligible to retire before the age of 64 under the proposed system due to exclusions for individuals who began their careers early or have physically demanding occupations.
In terms of pensions, he claimed, “We have the most advanced, most protective system in Europe.” He continued, “Even after the reforms, we will retire in France better off and sooner than in virtually all eurozone countries.
The age at which full pension benefits vest is 65 and rising steadily toward 67 in Europe and many other industrialized economies.
In France, pension reform has a long history of controversy. Reform efforts were halted by street demonstrations in 1995, and subsequent administrations encountered fierce opposition to the reforms that eventually became law in 2004, 2008, and 2010.
The Covid-19 outbreak forced Macron to abandon an earlier attempt to reform France’s pension system after it was faced with widespread strikes in 2019.
