A fifth day of nationwide strikes and protests in France on Thursday tested the government’s resolve on a controversial pension reform, the signature policy of President Emmanuel Macron’s second term.
This latest in a series of protests that began last month is expected to be less disruptive than on previous occasions, as the Paris metro and most mainline train services are operating normally and most schools are not Are affected. Fewer people were expected this time amid school holidays and as unions look to March 7, when a continuing general strike was called.
However, a railway workers’ strike will disrupt high-speed TGV trains and regional services. Nearly a third of flights were canceled at Paris’ second-busiest airport, Orly, and traffic will also be disrupted at regional airports.
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“These reforms are robbing people of their rights. I am here today to show (President) Macron that you cannot be deaf and that there are consequences when you try to defy the majority of the country,” said Pierre-Yves Toudic, a 34-year-old engineer protesting at Place de la Bastille in the center of Paris.
The proposed pension reforms, which aim to raise the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64, have sparked the most turbulent debate in years in the National Assembly, with the final outcome uncertain.
Protesters gather before a demonstration against a pension reform aimed at raising the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64, on February 16, 2023, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Opponents tabled thousands of amendments to delay the debate, now casting doubt on whether the lower house will actually be able to debate the famous Article 7, which sets out the change to the retirement age, before a key deadline on Friday. The pension bill, whether or not it has been fully debated, will automatically go to the Senate, the upper house, for consideration.
Lawmakers debated amendments related to Article 2 of the bill’s 20 articles on Thursday afternoon. The legislative process is not expected to end for several weeks.
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Despite opinion polls consistently showing rising opposition to reform and his own popularity waning, Macron insists he is delivering on a key campaign promise he made when he came to power in 2017 and before his re-election in April 2022.
The powerful far-left union, the CGT, is also keeping an eye on March 7, when the unions threaten to bring France to its knees. The head of the CGT, Philippe Martínez, said that the strategy was to “maintain the pressure on the legislators” so that they rejected the bill. This week the union called for the support of rubbish collectors, who could see rubbish piling up on French streets.
