untitled design

French strikers take 1 million to the streets in protest against new retirement age

Strikes disrupted train services, flights, schools and businesses in France on Thursday as more than a million people protested the government’s plans to raise the retirement age for most workers.

Protests in major French cities including Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and Nice have brought many transport services to a standstill. The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors.

France’s interior ministry said more than a million people took to the streets across the country, including 80,000 in Paris, where small groups of protesters threw bottles, rocks and firecrackers at riot police.

Eight of the biggest unions called for a first day of strikes and protests against pension reforms announced by the government of President Emmanuel Macron. The legislation will require French citizens to work until age 64, up from the current 62, to qualify for a full state pension.

The French government has said this is necessary to tackle the pension fund deficit, but the reforms have angered workers at a time when the cost of living is rising.

Teachers and transport workers were among those who did not show up for work. More than 40% of elementary school teachers and more than a third of secondary school teachers went on strike, according to France’s Ministry of Education.

Train lines across France have suffered “severe disruptions”, according to the French railway authority SNCF, and metro lines in Paris have been affected by total or partial closures, the city’s transport authority RATP said on Twitter. .

However, Eurostar has canceled several flights between the French capital and London, according to its website, and some flights at Orly airport have been crossed out. Charles de Gaulle Airport reported “some delays” due to the air traffic controllers’ strike, but no cancellations.

The CGT, one of France’s main trade union confederations, estimated two million people had taken part in more than 200 protest events across the country and said most workers at TotalEnergies (TOT) refineries had walked out, disrupting oil deliveries. oil.

TotalEnergies (TOT) said fueling at its network of gas stations would not be affected.

Why are people protesting?

Macron’s proposed pension reforms come as workers in France, as elsewhere, are under pressure from rising food and energy bills. Nurses and ambulance drivers in the UK are also on strike on Thursday over wages and working conditions.

Thousands took part in mass demonstrations in the streets of Paris last year to protest the cost of living, and strikes by workers demanding higher wages caused fuel pumps to run out across the country a few months ago.

“This reform comes at a time of great anger, great frustration, great weariness. In fact, it is coming at the worst time, ”the head of the CFE-CGC union, François Hommeril, told the CNN on Tuesday, pointing to the inflation that has gripped Europe this year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking to journalists in Spain on Thursday, Macron defended the changes as “fair and responsible”.

“If you want the pact between generations to be fair, we must proceed with this reform,” he added.

France spent nearly 14% of GDP on state pensions in 2018, more than most other countries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

How do you retire in France?

Government spokesman Olivier Veran told reporters on Wednesday that 40% of French workers would be able to retire before age 64 under the proposed regime because of exceptions for those who started work early or who have jobs physically. exhausting.

“We have the most protective and developed system in Europe [para pensões]”, he said. “Even after the reforms, we will retire in France better and earlier than in almost all eurozone countries,” he added.

In Europe and many other developed economies, the age at which full pension benefits are acquired is 65 and is moving closer to 67.

Revision of pensions has been a controversial issue in France, with street protests disrupting reform efforts in 1995 and successive governments facing strong resistance to changes that were eventually passed in 2004, 2008 and 2010.

An earlier attempt by Macron to revamp France’s pension system was met with nationwide strikes in 2019 before being abandoned because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

French unions are due to meet on Thursday night to decide whether the strike should continue.

Source: CNN Brasil

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular