French workers strike against raising retirement age

Trains and flights were canceled in France, primary schools closed and thousands of police mobilized as unions staged strikes across the country to protest the government’s plan to raise the retirement age for most workers.

Protests in major French cities including Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and Nice brought transport services to a standstill on Thursday. The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors and the country’s power grid was also under strain.

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

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

Meanwhile, Eurostar has canceled several flights between the French capital and London, according to its website, and flights at Orly airport in Paris have been crossed out. Around 200 buses will take protesters to Paris for a march through the city later in the day, CGT union head Philippe Martinez told French broadcaster Public Senat on Thursday.

The CGT said most workers at TotalEnergies’ refineries left, halting deliveries of oil products. THE CNN contacted the oil company for comment.

More than 40% of elementary school teachers and more than a third of secondary school teachers are on strike, according to France’s Ministry of Education.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told French radio station RTL on Wednesday that more than 10,000 police and military will be deployed to the protests, including 3,500 officers stationed in Paris.

Why are people protesting?

Macron’s proposed pension reforms come as workers in France, as elsewhere, are being squeezed by rising food and energy bills. Nurses and ambulance drivers in the UK are also on strike on Thursday over pay 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 renovation comes at a time of great anger, frustration, and fatigue. In fact, it is coming at the worst time,” CFE-CGC union boss 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.

The French government has said raising the retirement age is necessary to tackle the pension fund deficit. 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 does France compare?

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 due to exceptions for those who started work early or who have physically taxing jobs. .

“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.

A previous attempt by Macron to revamp France’s pension system was met with nationwide strikes in 2019 before being abandoned due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: CNN Brasil

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