Protesters took to the streets on Saturday to denounce President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed pension reforms as authorities in France prepared for the biggest mass demonstration in years.
Up to 850,000 people are expected to show up for the nationwide protests.
Former presidential candidate and veteran left-wing leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, predicted that the mobilization would be “the biggest social mobilization in this country in half a century”.
Macron’s political legacy may hinge on the outcome of his plan to raise France’s retirement age to 64, as he tackles the thorny issue of pensions – a sacred cow of French society seen as the backbone of the country’s social contract goes.
Saturday’s action is the fourth in a series of protests, but union bosses are confident it will be their biggest ever because it is taking place over the weekend.
Marie Buisson, general secretary of the Ferk-CGT union, which represents the education and cultural sectors, said on Saturday morning that she hoped many people who had been unable to attend previous stoppages during the week would now do so.
Macron kept the pension reform Heart during his re-election campaign last year but has been battling public backlash against his proposal to raise the minimum pension age, which is currently 62.
His new law went to parliament on 6 February and was ratified by the left-wing NUPES parliamentary coalition, trade unions and wide swaths of the public.
French presidents have tried – and failed – for years to reform France’s pension system.
France, the EU’s second largest economy, is out of step with most of Europe when it comes to the minimum retirement age. In neighboring Spain the retirement age is 65; In Germany, it was recently changed to 67, with many countries opting to raise their minimum retirement age in recent years as people live longer and governments grapple with massive pension liabilities.
But critics of Macron’s plan have said it risks hitting low-income workers disproportionately and argue there are other ways to tackle the pension deficit, such as taxing the ultra-wealthy.
Although Macron can technically push through the proposals through a special constitutional provision, the government has said it wants a majority in parliament, with Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire describing it as a question of “political legitimacy”. Have done
As political horse-trading grows, Macron’s government has already made some concessions – proposing that those who start working at the age of 20 and 21 should retire at 63. Can, for example. But it is not clear whether this will be enough to influence enough members of the National Assembly.
Clarification: This article has been updated to note that Germany’s retirement age was recently changed.