French labour unions trigger mass strikes
PROTESTS AGAINST GOVERNMENT PLANS TO RAISE RETIREMENT AGE TO 64
Over a million people marched in France yesterday to protest deeply unpopular pension reforms, with some demonstrators clashing with police in Paris, as strikes disrupted public transport, 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 1.1 million, including 80,000 in Paris, with new action scheduled for January 31. The hardleft CGT union said there had been over two million people at protests across France, and 400,000 in the capital alone.
Around the Bastille area of Paris, radical 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.
Some 30 people were arrested, mostly members of a 1,000-strong radical group called “Black Blocs” who wore masks, helmets and black clothes, police said, adding they had managed to split off the group from the main demonstration.
No major violent incidents were reported elsewhere in France. Presented by Macron’s government last week, the pensions plan 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.
‘Die on the job’
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.
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.”
The strikes disrupted public transport in the capital, with one metro line closed and others running less frequently than usual, and many trains were cancelled throughout France.
Many parents were forced to look after their children as around 40 per cent of primary school teachers and more than 30 per cent in the secondary system walked out, according to official estimates.
French workers went on strike and joined marches across the country yesterday, halting trains and cutting electricity production in protest against government plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
The stoppages are a major test for President Emmanuel Macron, who says his pension reform plan, which opinion polls show is hugely unpopular, is vital to ensure the system does not go bust.
“It’s salaries and pensions that must be increased, not the retirement age,” read one large banner carried by workers that opened the protest march in Tours, in western France.
“I’ll have to prepare my walking frame if the reform goes through,” said Isabelle, 53, a social worker, saying her job was too tough to add two more years.
‘Necessary and fair’
In Nice, in southern France, a large banner read: “No to the reform.” Pushing back the retirement age by two years and extending the pay-in period would bring an additional €17.7 billion ($19.1 billion) in annual pension contributions, allowing the system to break even by 2027, according to Labour Ministry estimates. “This reform is necessary and fair,” Labour Minister Olivier Dussopt said.
Unions argue there are other ways to ensure the viability of the pension system such as taxing the super-rich or increasing employers’ contributions or those of well-off pensioners.
“This problem can be solved in a different way, through taxation. Workers should not have to pay for the public sector deficit,” said Laurent Berger, the leader of CFDT, France’s biggest labour union.
At the same Paris protest rally, Michel Liger, a 65-year-old retired firefighter, said he was there because he worried about his two daughters.
‘Real problems’
“My children shouldn’t have to work longer than me,” he said, adding that the government should instead tackle what he called “real problems” including the health care sector.
Union leaders, expected to announce more strikes and protests in the evening, said. The pension reform still needs to go through parliament, where Macron has lost his absolute majority but is hoping to get it passed with the support of conservatives.
Train drivers, teachers and refinery workers were among those who walked off their jobs, as well as nearly 45% of staff at utility giant EDF, the company said. France Inter radio played music instead of its usual programming and bus drivers and civil servants also went on strike.