French Workers Mount New Strike Against Macron's Pension Plan

"PARIS -- More than one million French workers took to the streets for the second time in two weeks, piling more pressure on President Emmanuel Macron's plans to raise the retirement age and threatening further walkouts that could grind much of the country to a halt.

Striking teachers and railway, health and oil workers staged marches in dozens of cities as a part of a nationwide day of action called by unions to force the government to back down from its pension overhaul. Train, subway and bus services were severely curtailed, and dozens of flights were canceled. Many schools and nurseries remained closed.

The protests began mostly peacefully, but some clashes erupted between demonstrators and police near the end of the march in Paris, where at least 23 people were detained.

The turnout on Tuesday suggests the movement is gaining momentum, and deepening unions' standoff with Mr. Macron, who has said the new measures will be law by fall. About 1.27 million French people took to the streets on Tuesday, compared with 1.12 million on Jan. 19, according to the French interior ministry. Tuesday's protest was one of the largest demonstrations in recent French history.

Revamping the country's pension system -- the centerpiece of which is raising the retirement age to 64 by 2030 from 62 -- was one of the main planks of Mr. Macron's re-election campaign last year. He has argued that it is the only way to preserve France's pension system without raising taxes or increasing the country's debt. But the French leader will struggle to enact the rest of his pro-business agenda during his second term in office if he is forced to reverse course on pensions, some analysts say.

Mr. Macron's government has shown no sign of backing down. On Sunday, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the increase of the retirement age to 64 was nonnegotiable.

In France, as in many other countries, current workers pay for retirees' government pensions. But as people live longer and the population grows older, the ratio of workers to retirees has decreased, putting the system under growing stress and forcing the government to increase its spending on pensions.

Unions say increasing the retirement age will penalize people who started working at a young age and increase unemployment among older workers.

Public opinion appears to back the protesters. A poll of 1,007 people by polling firm Opinionway on Jan. 26 showed 61% of French people support unions in their fight against the government's plan, compared with 58% two weeks earlier." [1]

1. World News: French Workers Mount New Strike Against Macron's Pension Plan
Bisserbe, Noemie; Dalton, Matthew.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 01 Feb 2023: A.16.