Hundreds of thousands of strikers are expected to take to the streets across France on Thursday as transport, schools and refineries were hit by large-scale industrial action against Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
Marches began early in regional cities including Nantes and Nice, while riot police took up position in central Paris ahead of a demonstration planned for the afternoon. Shopkeepers around the Place de la République boarded up windows and shop windows after authorities warned of the possibility of vandalism on the fringes of the marches or black bloc-style tactics.
Local and regional train services in France all but ground to a halt, public transport in cities such as Paris was “severely disrupted” according to transport operators, and much of the country’s high-speed rail lines were down.
The main teachers’ union said 70% of primary school teachers were on strike, with many schools closed for the day. Public radio and television were also interrupted, playing music or showing replays; many theaters were closed. Some refinery supplies were blocked and energy production was reduced.
The 24-hour strike and protests in 200 towns and cities are Macron’s first major test since his re-election against far-right rival Marine Le Pen last spring.
Macron has turned the pension issue into a marker of his aim to transform France and overhaul its social model and social system. He insists he will deliver on his key campaign promise to overhaul France’s pension system – raising the retirement age for most people to 64 from 62 and increasing the years of contributions needed for a full pension. Opinion polls show that a majority of French people oppose these proposals and consider them “unfair”, although many agree that change is needed.
The key question for Macron and the government is whether unions, which have come together in a rare and historic united front for the 24-hour strike this Thursday, will harness public anger into a wider social protest movement and vote to continue strike action on Thursday night. Some high school students blockaded lyceums on Thursday morning as the government fears young people in schools and universities may lead their own protests.
Macron remains aware of the legacy of the anti-government gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protest movement, which erupted in 2018 from scratch, without union leadership, taking the government by surprise. It is uncertain whether anger over changes to pensions and the cost of living could fuel the current protests. In 2019, a previous attempt by Macron to overhaul the pension was met with France’s longest rail strikes since May 1968, and those pension overhaul plans were shelved during the Covid pandemic.
Eric Wörth, a former minister from right-wing Nicolas Sarkozy who is now part of Macron’s party, told Le Monde that politicians should not “underestimate” sentiment over the pension changes, saying “the confrontation will play out in the streets”.
Philippe Martínez, head of the hard-left CGT union, told broadcaster Public Senat that the planned pension overhaul “unites everyone’s dissatisfaction” with the government. He said the rare united front among workers’ representatives showed that “the problem is very serious”. He added: “It’s going to be a big day of mobilisation, especially with all the unions on the same page.” He called the pension changes “unfair”, “dogmatic and ideological”.
Laurent Berger, the head of France’s largest union, the moderate CFDT, told BFMTV: “There is a lot of anger.”
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The pension changes still have to go through parliament, where Macron’s centrist group lost its absolute majority. The government hopes to pass the bill quickly with the support of right-wing Les Républicains lawmakers.
The government says it wants to keep public spending under control. “This reform is necessary and fair,” Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt told LCI TV on Thursday after unions criticized Macron for not being in Barcelona for the Franco-Spanish summit. Dussopt said the right to strike was protected in France but did not want the country to be “blocked”.
The Department of Labor estimates that moving the retirement age by two years and extending the payment period would bring in an extra €17.7 billion (£15.5 billion) in pension contributions, allowing the system to break even by 2027 Mr.
Unions say ordinary workers will be affected and the changes are unfair.
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