While the French Senate is deliberating on the pension reform, crowds across the country have protested against the center government’s plan. The authorities reportedly expected around 1.1 to 1.4 million demonstrators for the first strike after the winter holidays on Tuesday.
Unions had called for strikes to “bring France to a standstill”. A number of trains and flights were canceled and, according to the CGT union, the delivery of fuel was blocked at all refineries in the country. Road blockades were reported from some cities. People stopped working in schools, in garbage disposal and at the electricity company EDF.
Controversial raising of the retirement age
France’s central government wants to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. In addition, the number of payment years required for a full pension should increase more quickly. The reform is considered one of President Emmanuel Macron’s central projects. The unions consider them unjust and brutal.
Currently, the retirement age is 62 years. In fact, retirement begins later on average: those who have not paid in long enough to be entitled to a full pension work longer. At the age of 67 there is then a pension without deductions, regardless of how long it has been paid in – the government wants to keep this. She wants to increase the monthly minimum pension to around 1,200 euros.
The project is currently being debated in the Senate, the upper house of the French parliament. After a deadline, the government had sent it from the National Assembly to the second chamber of parliament without a final vote. On Tuesday afternoon, the Senate is likely to discuss, among other things, the controversial increase in the retirement age.
The Senate plans to discuss the project by the end of the week. A commission of senators and deputies then meets. If the reform fails in parliament, the government could order its implementation.
The next strike day is just around the corner
The unions now want to increase the pressure again. The strike is to continue as early as Wednesday, and there are signs of massive traffic disruptions again. At the railway company SNCF and at the garbage disposal, there are threats of strikes that can be extended. According to the broadcaster BFMTV, there will also be protests against the pension reform on Saturday.
According to a recent survey by the opinion research institute Ifop, a good two-thirds of French people are against the pension reform. Accordingly, it is rejected particularly strongly by people under 35. Still, only about a third believe that the protests can still prevent reform.
