French Pension Reform Invokes Anger Among Frenchmen. Over 1 mn People Took To Streets

French Pension Reform Updates: Hundreds of thousands of French citizens gathered to the streets on Thursday to protest a widely reviled pensions overhaul, with some clashing with police in the capital city of Paris.

Last week, the government of President Emmanuel Macron proposed amendments that would raise the retirement age for most workers from 62 to 64 and increase the number of years of payments required for a full pension.

After 12 years, when the retirement age in France was raised from 60 to 62, the country’s trade unions called for a mass mobilisation.

The hard-left CGT union estimates that over 2 million people across France participated in protests against President Macron’s proposal to raise the retirement age. Earlier, police estimated that there could be anywhere from 550,000 to 750,000 demonstrators across France, with as many as 80,000 expected in the capital.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that 10,000 police, with more than a third in the capital, would be on alert.

The walkout involved an estimated 40 percent of elementary school teachers and more than 30 percent of secondary school instructors, so many parents were left caring for their children. Union estimates of membership are significantly higher: 70% and 65%, respectively.

French Pension Reform: Reduction in Electricity Generation

Workers on strike at state-owned energy provider EDF said they reduced electricity output by 7,000 MW, but RTE, the system operator, estimated it was just 5,000 MW, or enough to power two cities the size of Paris.

There will be “no impact on users,” according to the CGT union group.

In an interview with Public Senat, Philippe Martinez, leader of the far-left CGT union, said that the proposed pension reform “bundles together everyone’s dissatisfaction” with the government and that the unusually united front among worker representatives demonstrated that “the problem is very serious.”

With “all the unions on the same page,” Martinez predicts a massive mobilisation on that day.

President Speaks in Favor of Change

On Thursday, President Macron expressed his hope that nationwide rallies against his controversial pension reform effort will be peaceful. Macron hailed the planned adjustments as “fair and responsible” during the Franco-Spanish conference in Barcelona.

But he insisted that the reform was “democratically proposed and adopted,” thus he hoped the demonstrations would go off “without excesses, bloodshed, or destruction.”

Problems With The Trade Route

On Thursday, a strike by ferry employees between Dover and Calais, a crucial sea route for trade between the United Kingdom and the continent, caused a backup of trucks along a road in northern France.