French protests increase stress towards Macron’s pension reform

AFP

Huge crowds marched throughout France on Tuesday to say “non” to President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to make folks work longer earlier than retirement, with stress within the streets intensifying towards a authorities that claims it’s going to stand its floor.

Opinion polls present a considerable majority of the French oppose rising the retirement age to 64 from 62, a transfer Macron says is “vital” to making sure the viability of the pension system.

The French Interior ministry stated {that a} complete of 1.272 million folks took half within the protests nationwide, up barely from the primary nationwide demonstration on Jan 19. In Paris, a complete of 87,000 folks marched, in comparison with 80,000 on Jan. 19, it added.

“It’s better than on the 19th. … It’s a real message sent to the government, saying we don’t want the 64 years,” Laurent Berger, who leads CFDT, France’s largest union, stated forward of the Paris march.

Union leaders at a joint news convention on the finish of the march stated they might organise extra strikes and demonstrations towards the reform on Feb. 7 and 11.

Marching behind banners studying “No to the reform” or “We won’t give up,” many stated they might take to the streets as usually as wanted for the federal government to again down.

“For the president, it’s easy. He sits in a chair … he can work until he’s 70, even,” bus driver Isabelle Texier stated at a protest in Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast. “We can’t ask roof layers to work until 64, it’s not possible.”

Striking staff disrupted French refinery deliveries, public transport and faculties, even when, in a number of sectors, fewer walked off the job on Tuesday than on the nineteenth as a cost-of-living disaster makes it more durable to skip a day’s pay.

MORE STRIKES?

For unions, the problem might be sustaining walkouts at a time when excessive inflation is eroding salaries.

A union supply stated some 36.5% of SNCF rail operator staff had been on strike by noon – down practically 10% from Jan. 19 – even when disruption to coach site visitors was largely related.

On the rail networks, just one in three high-speed TGV trains had been working and even fewer native and regional trains. Services on the Paris metro had been thrown into disarray.

Utility group EDF stated 40.3% of staff had been on strike, down from 44.5%. The schooling ministry additionally stated fewer academics walked off their job.

Unions and corporations at instances disagreed on whether or not this strike was kind of profitable than the earlier one. For TotalEnergies, fewer staff at its refineries had downed instruments, however the CGT stated there have been extra.

In any case, French energy provide was down by about 5% or 3.3 gigawatts as staff at nuclear reactors and thermal vegetation joined the strike, EDF information confirmed.

And TotalEnergies stated deliveries of petroleum merchandise from its French websites had been halted, however clients’ wants had been met.

‘BRUTAL’

The authorities has stated that pushing the retirement age to 64 is “non-negotiable.”

And with the reform posing a take a look at of Macron’s capability to push by change now that he has misplaced his working majority in parliament, some felt resigned amid bargaining with conservative opponents who’re fairly open to pension reform.

“There’s no point in going on strike. This bill will be adopted in any case,” stated 34-year-old Matthieu Jacquot, who works within the luxurious sector.

The pension system reform would yield an extra 17.7 billion euros ($19.18 billion) in annual pension contributions, in keeping with Labour Ministry estimates. Unions say there are different methods to lift income, akin to taxing the super-rich or asking employers or well-off pensioners to contribute extra.

“This reform is unfair and brutal,” stated Luc Farre, the secretary common of the civil servants’ UNSA union.

At an area stage, some introduced “Robin Hood” operations unauthorised by the federal government. In the southwestern Lot-et-Garonne space, the native CGT commerce union department lower energy to a number of velocity cameras and disabled sensible energy meters.

“When there is such a massive opposition, it would be dangerous for the government not to listen,” stated Mylene Jacquot, secretary common of CFDT’s civil servants department.