PARIS, Jan 19 – Trains ground to a halt, schools closed and businesses suspended in France on Thursday as workers walked off the job in a bid to derail a planned pension reform that would push the retirement age up two years to 64.
A nationwide day of strikes and protests is a major test for President Emmanuel Macron, who says his flagship reform is essential to ensure the pension system does not collapse.
Opinion polls show that French voters overwhelmingly reject his plan to let them work longer.
“There is nothing good about this reform,” Rozenn Cros said in the southern French city of Cannes as she and other teachers prepared to go on strike, carrying banners including “No 64.”
The challenge for unions, which are far less powerful in France than they used to be, is whether they can turn this opposition to reform – and anger over the cost of living crisis – into a mass social protest lasting beyond Thursday. and finally get the government to back down.
“This issue of pensions is taking away all the discontent,” hardline CGT union leader Philippe Martinez told Public Senat TV. “Today is going to be a very big mobilization day.”
At stake for Macron is his reform credentials, both at home and with his European Union colleagues, as well as keeping public spending under control.
Pushing the retirement age by two years and extending the payout period would generate an additional 17.7 billion euros ($19.1 billion) in annual pension contributions, allowing the system to break even by 2027, according to Labor Ministry estimates.