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For weeks, France has been rocked by a series of strikes and widespread protests against Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension law.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 1 million people took to the streets nationwide on Thursday (March 23).
One of the largest labor unions, the CGT, put the figure at 3 million.
Around 120,000 people protested in Paris, where the demonstrations have been generally peaceful.
As reported by the Portal news agency, there were clashes between police and masked people who smashed shop windows, destroyed street furniture and attacked a McDonald’s restaurant in the French capital.
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A fire broke out in Bordeaux town hall
Police fired tear gas at protesters and around 80 people were arrested across the country.
In Bordeaux, in the southwest of the country, fire reached the main gate of the town hall after a day of protests and clashes. The fire was quickly extinguished by the fire department.
There were also a series of strikes by transport, garbage, education and other workers across the country.
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne tweeted: “Voicing different opinions is a right. The violence and devastation we are witnessing today is unacceptable. My sincere thanks go to the police and rescue services who were deployed.”
On Friday (March 24th) it was announced that the state visit of King Charles III. in France, which was supposed to start on Sunday (26 March), has been postponed.
Below we explain what the social security reform entails and why it is so controversial.
What does the new reform mean?
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Clashes broke out between demonstrators and police in Paris
The main goal of the new pension law is to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030.
The increase will be in increments of three months per year, beginning in September 2023.
The retirement age in France was last changed in 2010, from 60 before that.
The reform also shifts the obligation to contribute from 43 years to 2027 to receive a pension, rather than 42 years as previously.
In addition, the new law removes retirement privileges for some public sector workers, such as B. Paris Metro workers.
Opposition to the new law grew even stronger after the government forced its approval on March 16, bypassing the National Assembly the lower house of parliament where it does not have an absolute majority.
Why is Macron determined to implement the new law?
Pension reform was one of Macron’s key proposals during his campaign for the 2022 presidential election.
The protests and strikes that began in January did not persuade the president to resign. This week he survived two noconfidence motions and defended the reform in a television interview.
“This reform is necessary,” said Macron, stressing that it should be implemented by the end of 2023.
The president says pension reform is an “unpopular but necessary” way to secure the future of the country’s pension system.
According to the president, the measure is vital to avoid the collapse of France’s generous pension system and to ensure younger citizens don’t shoulder the burden of funding older generations.
Macron says it’s about “rescuing and preventing deficits” in the coming decades.
But opponents argue the measure will disproportionately hit workers, who are more likely to start work at a younger age and have more physically demanding jobs than managers and the selfemployed.
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President Macron defended the reform on TV
Will one party give in?
The government survived two motions of no confidence this week. It now remains to be seen whether Macron’s determination will outweigh the unions’ ability to lobby on the streets.
Polls show that more than twothirds of citizens oppose the pension reform.
And according to broadcaster France 24, “the vast majority of French people also expressed their support for the strikes, which disrupted classes, public transport and garbage collection”.
Union leaders, who have vowed to strike and protest the law since January, called Macron’s comments defending the reform “despicable”.
“The President of the Republic made fun of us,” Marie Buisson, one of the CGT leaders, told Radio France Info.
She added unions were “determined” to continue protesting. “Since (the law) was passed by force, there is outrage,” he said. “Our goal is to make as many people as possible unemployed.”
Extended strikes on Thursday led to significant traffic disruptions on roads and trains as well as flight cancellations.
The trade unions have called for new protests for next Tuesday (March 28).
Macron faces an enormous challenge. Their main project was approved, but at a high political cost and the dissatisfaction of the majority of citizens.