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France lives this Tuesday (7) its sixth day of national strike since the beginning of the year, in protest against the pension reform. The unions promise that this time they will “paralyze” the country to block the project promoted by President Emmanuel Macron that has, among its most contested measures, the increase in the minimum age for retirement.
Two out of three French people, according to polls, are against the project to postpone the retirement age from 62 to 64 from 2030 and to bring forward to 2027 the requirement to contribute for 43 years (and not 42 as currently) to receive the full pension. But the government says that by raising one of the lowest retirement ages in Europe, it wants to avoid a pension deficit. According to the spokesman for the Executive, Olivier Véran, the objective is “to fulfill the objective of a balanced system by 2030”.
Since the presentation of the project, in January, the unions have organized great manifestations, including the largest in three decades in the country, on January 31st – which mobilized from 1.27 to 2.8 million people. But that wasn’t enough to force the government to back down.
Now, union forces hope to intensify the protest. A police source estimates the number of protesters in France at between 1.1 million and 1.4 million. “It will be a social tsunami,” said Murielle Guilbert of the Solidaires union on Monday.
Rail services in France and public transport in Paris, crucial to the capital’s economy, are expected to be disrupted from Monday night. “We will have difficult days. It is likely that things will not end on March 7, in the evening or in the morning of March 8”, warned the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, recalling that the unions are threatening to prolong the mobilization. Authorities requested the cancellation of 20% to 30% of scheduled flights at major airports.
“Limited” economic impact
Unions also called for schools to close. Paralyzed works, closed stores, open tolls and blocked roads are also part of the planned actions program.
Truck drivers have already started the strike and caused traffic jams in cities like Lille (north) and Rouen (northeast). Since last Friday, energy workers have caused output cuts at several nuclear power plants.
Despite the objective of blocking the economy, the impact of the strikes will be “limited”, according to analysts at the ING bank, who calculate, in the event of long stoppages, a drop of just 0.2 percentage points in GDP.
The last time the French managed to avoid a pension reform was in 1995. The unions paralyzed train and metro services for three weeks and managed to maintain strong public support.
A majority of French people currently support the principle of extendable strikes (56%) and the union aim of “paralyzing France” (59%) to force the government to back down, according to an Elabe poll published on Monday.
The project, however, follows the parliamentary procedure. After passing through the Assembly (Lower House), the Senate plenary (Upper House) has been debating the proposals since Thursday, which advance thanks to the support of the right-wing opposition.
Limited discussion time
The government opted for a controversial parliamentary procedure that limits the time for debate and allows the measures to be applied if the two Chambers of Parliament do not approve the same text by March 26. The Assembly did not vote on the project.
International Women’s Day, on Wednesday, could also register a strong mobilization, in particular when opponents of the project consider that women are one of the groups most affected by the reform.
(With information from AFP)