dpa
Paris
Several hundred thousand protesters hit the streets across France on Tuesday in a second round of demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
In Paris alone, 500,000 people came out to protest against what can be considered the government’s biggest priority. Strikes hampered schools, refineries and the railways, which also impacted train connections in neighbouring Germany.
People demonstrated in Toulouse, Rennes and Grenoble and other cities. The government deployed 11,000 civil and military police across the country in response.
In Paris, the demonstration began in the afternoon, accompanied by music and protest songs. Families with children, students and older people joined the throngs. Despite the deep unpopularity of the reform plans, the mood remained positive.
Meanwhile, the reform project is under scrutiny in the relevant parliamentary committee and is to come before the plenary next week.
Macron hopes to achieve a majority there with the support of the conservatives, but some of them have expressed
reservations.
It is also unclear how the current tug-of-war between the government and trade unions will play out. Macron and his government fear that long-running strikes could bring the country to its knees.
An initial attempt at pension reforms, during Macron’s first term in office, prompted weeks of industrial action and was eventually shelved during the pandemic.
During this year’s first round of strikes, called by trade unions two weeks ago, varying estimates showed between 1 million and 2 million people walked out.
France’s government wants to gradually raise the regular retirement age because the current system is not viable in the long-term. It also wants to increase more quickly the number of years needed to pay into the system to receive a full pension and abolish several individual systems with privileges for certain occupational groups.
While officially the current retirement age is 62, most stop working later. Workers who have not paid into the system long enough to get a full pension stay on the job.
Regardless of the number of years worked, would-be pensioners are entitled to a full pension without deductions at 67. The government wants to increase the minimum monthly pension to about €1,200 ($1,300).
