“We must turn off the power to billionaires and politicians for a few days so they can put themselves in the shoes of ordinary French people who cannot pay their bills.” Philippe Martinez is considering drastic measures. The leader of the CGT, France’s second-largest union, is a co-initiator of nationwide strikes taking place on Thursday against planned pension reform.
The government plans to raise the retirement age to 64 by 2030. It is currently 62. During the election campaign, President Emmanuel Macron even considered raising the age to 65. The number of years of contribution required is also expected to increase. If the project is implemented, 43 years of contributions would have to be proven from 2027 onwards for a full pension.
To prevent this, all of the country’s major unions came together for the first time in over a decade. Their plan: shut down public life in France for 24 hours. According to workers’ representatives, there are strikes across the country in various sectors, particularly in the transport and energy sectors. 70% of French primary schools are expected to remain closed.
Key project for Macron
The industrial action is also seen as a test of how powerful France’s established unions will still be in 2023. In recent years, they have had increasing difficulties mobilizing people. This time, however, his project has broad public support. According to surveys, 80% of French people reject a higher retirement age. After Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented the new pension concept, the head of the moderate CFDT union, Laurent Berger, spoke of “one of the most brutal reforms of the last 30 years”.
Pension reform is one of Macron’s most important projects in his second term. Already in 2019, the president wanted to implement a comprehensive change in the pension system. At the time, his proposal provided for a total overhaul of the regulation and make it more efficient. Privileges for individual professional groups, which are common in France, must also be abolished. Weeks of strikes followed, paralyzing the entire local public transport system in Paris. The government finally used the onset of the corona pandemic as an excuse to avoid doom. The reform was withdrawn.
While the new draft has been significantly trimmed in terms of content, there is a major headwind from both the left and the right. Right-wing politician Marine Le Pen announced that she would block “unfair reform”. Leftist MP Mathilde Panot called the plans “archaic, unfair, brutal, cruel”.
debt reduction reform
Pushing reform could once again become a major effort for President Macron. As it does not have the necessary majority in Parliament, it depends on the support of conservative Republicans.
The incentive for reform comes from specialists. The French are said to have retired earlier than other industrialized countries. According to calculations by the EU Commission, the average age at which people leave the labor market in France is 62.3 years. In neighboring Germany, people work two years longer and only retire at age 64.6.
The Paris government is pushing for future-proof retirement changes and debt reduction. According to the OECD, France spends almost 14% of its economic output on pensions. The current system of taxpayers and pensioners is heading for a deficit of double-digit billions of euros, says the Conseil d’Orientation des Retraites, a body that also includes union members. (dkw/Portal)