Strikes called as Macron pushes to raise France retirement age to 64
- Plans to reform the country’s pension system have set the stage for a new wave of protests and a showdown with unions
- Major disruption is expected in the coming weeks, with opinion polls showing that around two-thirds of French people oppose raising the retirement age
French trade unions called for strikes and protests after President Emmanuel Macron’s government announced plans to raise the retirement age, setting the stage for a bitter fight and weeks of disruption.
The government intends to hike the retirement age to 64 from the current 62 and streamline the pension system under changes even some supporters view as risky and likely to provoke backlash.
The country’s eight biggest unions immediately called a day of protests on January 19 which “kicks off a powerful movement for pensions for the long term”, according to their joint statement on Tuesday.
It will be the first time in 12 years – since the last pension changes – that all of France’s unions are united, with the head of the more moderate CFDT, Laurent Berger, calling the reform “one of the most brutal of the last 30 years”.
Presenting the outlines of the government’s plans on Tuesday after months of suspense, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said that doing nothing about projected deficits for the pension system would be “irresponsible”.
“It would lead inevitably to a massive increase in taxes, a reduction in pensions and would pose a threat to our pensions system,” she said.