Nation gripped by rallies against pension reform
More than a million people marched in France on Thursday to protest pension reforms, with some demonstrators clashing with police in Paris, as strikes disrupted public transportation, schools and much of the civil service.
The interior ministry put the total number of protesters marching against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to extend the retirement age at 1.2 million, including 80,000 in Paris.
The hard-left CGT union said there had been more than two million people at protests across France, and 400,000 in the capital alone.
Another day of action is planned for Jan 31.
Around the Bastille area of Paris, some demonstrators hurled bottles, bins and smoke grenades at police who responded with tear gas and charged to disperse the troublemakers, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
As the march wound down in the evening, groups of young protesters also clashed with security forces at the vast Nation plaza in eastern Paris, setting fire to several bicycles and smashing bus stops.
Police said 44 people were arrested on weapons or violence charges, mostly from among the radical “Black Blocs” group, who wore masks, helmets and black clothes. Officers managed to split off the group, who numbered around a thousand, from the main demonstration, said police.
Seventeen people were also arrested in Lyon, where 23,000 people protested, according to authorities.
The pensions plan, presented by Mr Macron’s government last week, would raise the retirement age for most from 62 — among the lowest in the EU — to 64 and would increase the
years of contributions required for a full pension.
France’s trade unions had called for a mass mobilisation, the first time they have united since 12 years ago, when the retirement age was hiked to 62 from 60.
Police said earlier they had prepared for 550,000 to 750,000 protesters in all of France, including up to 80,000 in the capital.
Mr Macron, speaking from a French-Spanish summit in Barcelona, defended what he called a “fair and
responsible reform”.
But demonstrators disagreed, including Hamidou, 43, who joined the protest in central Paris.
“Macron wants us to die on the job,” he said. “We get up very early. Some colleagues wake up at 3am. Working
until 64 is too much.”
Nearby, Charlie Perrin, 15, decried an ever-retreating retirement age.
“The way things are going, we’ll be almost unable to walk or live by the time we’re given the right to retire,” she said.