Paris / London. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators returned, yesterday, to protest in France against reforming the retirement system of President Emmanuel Macron, on the eve of the expected final vote on the text in Parliament.
It remains to be seen whether Macron can win a parliamentary majority for his plan to raise the age from 62 to 64 so that workers can inject more money into the system. Otherwise, you risk unilaterally imposing unpopular changes.
The plan would also deny access to a full pension to anyone who retires at age 64 without having worked for 43 years; In short, they will have to wait until 67.
Macron has touted the changes as a key part of his vision to make the French economy more competitive. Unions battled into the night, calling on lawmakers to vote against the plan and denouncing the government’s legal shortcuts in moving the bill forward as a “dangerous denial of democracy”.
“I say to parliamentarians: do not vote for this law, it is divorced from the concrete reality of action,” Laurent Berger, leader of the reformist trade union CFDT, urged at a demonstration in Paris.
The eighth day of the protests coincided with a meeting between seven deputies and seven senators, who agreed on a single reform text, which is a major step with a view to its possible adoption today.
“The penalty with work for another two years is dangerous when you know that many jobs are difficult and many people are unemployed,” Cecile Ouedraogo, a pensioner who demonstrated in Bordeaux (southwest), told AFP.
Paris police said 37,000 people took part in the French capital, down 11,000 from Saturday, although opinion polls show broad opposition to the pension bill.
The main CGT union said 450,000 took part in Paris and 1.7 million across France.
Train conductors, schoolteachers, dock workers, oil refinery workers and others joined garbage collectors in quitting their jobs on Wednesday, to maneuver between thousands of tons of rubbish piling up on the sidewalks of Paris and other French cities.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has called on the Paris city council to force some garbage workers back to work, calling it a public health problem.
The mayor of Paris, the socialist Anne Hidalgo, said she supported the strike. Government spokesman Olivier Ferrand warned that if it did not comply, the Interior Ministry was ready to act in its stead. Public transport has been disrupted: about 40% of high-speed trains and half of regional trains have been cancelled.
The Paris metro slowed and France’s aviation authority warned of delays as 20% of flights at Paris Orly airport were cancelled.
Key union leaders plan to meet Thursday noon in front of the assembly for a final call to lawmakers. The president summoned his prime minister, Elizabeth Born, and some ministers at night to make sure that the reform could be brought to the attention of deputies, and thus avoid activating another controversial parliamentary measure, according to his entourage.
The economic challenges triggered widespread unrest across Western Europe.
Actions to seek higher salaries
In Britain on Wednesday, teachers, junior doctors and public transport employees went on strike to demand higher wages to keep up with rising fares. In Spain, the left-wing government joined unions to announce a “historic” deal to save the pension system by raising social security costs for the highest wages.
The UK faces rising food and energy prices, with inflation hovering above 10%.
In London, the Underground was practically idle due to the drivers’ strike. Hospital doctors have been mobilized since Monday.
Officials also participate in the protest.
Meanwhile, British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt announced during the budget presentation that the British government will invest 94 billion pounds (107.7 billion euros) within two years to support purchasing power, coinciding with the day of the strike on the cost of living.
Hunt told parliament that the UK would not fall into a “technical recession this year”, contrary to previous predictions. The minister said the UK economy will contract by 0.2% this year due to weak activity in the first quarter, based on new forecasts from the OBR, the public forecasting body.
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