Pension reform protests: Pension reform protests escalate violently again protesters storm Blackrock headquarters in Paris

In France, after the failure of new negotiations, roads and universities are again blocked, and Charles de Gaulle airport is also affected. A solution is not predictable.

06.04.2023 | Update: 4/6/2023 – 1:19 pm

Blackrock headquarters in Paris © Portal

Paris After the unsuccessful negotiations between the French unions and the government on the pension reform, there are again strikes and protests in France against the project. Opponents of French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms stormed a company building in Paris on Thursday. Videos taken on Thursday showed them holding flares and singing.

“It takes money to fund our pension system. There are some here,” a spokesperson for the railway union CGT Cheminots told the megaphone, according to the newspaper “Le Parisien.” “Instead of taking two years of workers’ lives, Macron should look for him here.” The building is also home to American wealth manager Blackrock, who declined to comment when asked.

During Macron’s first term, Blackrock became something of an enemy during strikes and protests against planned pension reforms at the time – reform opponents believed that the asset manager was benefiting from Macron’s reform plans and influenced them .

Blackrock denied this. Blackrock has not played a role in the current protests against pension reform.

Protesters also blocked access to part of Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport on Thursday, as well as roads and colleges in several locations.

According to media reports, stores in Lyon were damaged. In Nantes, police used tear gas in clashes. The atmosphere in Rennes was also tense. Authorities expect up to 800,000 protesters across the country against the gradual increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Macron and the central government want to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 to avoid a hole in the pension fund. Trade unions and large sectors of the opposition reject the reform that has now been approved as unfair.

“There is no other solution but to roll back the reform”

On Thursday, unions continued to demand that the government simply bury its plans. “There is no other solution but to roll back the reform,” said the new president of the CGT union, Sophie Binet, at the start of a demonstration in Paris.

The head of the largest union, CFDT, Laurent Berger, spoke of a social crisis on RTL radio. He asked to participate in protest marches planned for Friday.

Sophie Binet at the protests © Portal

On Wednesday, talks between union representatives and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne broke down after just an hour with no result. “We have decided to end this pointless meeting,” said Binet. It was the first time since January that unions and the government had worked together to find a way out of the impasse.

Millions of people have been demonstrating and striking against pension reform since the beginning of the year. Protests intensified after the government passed the special powers bill through parliament without a vote.

The reform has not yet entered into force.

Currently, the retirement age in France is 62. In fact, retirement starts later on average: those who haven’t paid enough time to receive a full pension work longer.

Protest in Nice © IMAGO/PanoramiC

At age 67 there is then an undiscounted pension, regardless of the time of payment – ​​the government wants to keep it, even if the number of years of payments required for a full pension increases more rapidly. He wants to increase the minimum monthly pension to around 1,200 euros.

However, the reform has not yet entered into force. Macron wants this to happen by the end of the year. The project is currently under review by the Constitutional Council. Deputies, senators and Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne summoned the authority to examine the text.

The Constitutional Council can annul part or all of the reform or declare it constitutional. Next Friday, he wants to announce his decision.