For the fourth time in a month, hundreds of thousands of French people are protesting in dozens of cities against the announced pension reforms of President Emmanuel Macron. That report French media Saturday. These reforms include raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 in 2030.
The protests are causing delayed and canceled flights from Paris. Orly airport warns of outages because a number of employees of the French aviation authority, also responsible for air traffic control, are on strike. According to the French news channel BFMTV this concerns 50 percent of all flights.
In addition to the age increase, the reforms also mean that the period in which the French must pay contributions for their pension accrual will be extended to a maximum of 43 years. On the other hand, the minimum pension for some of the French is going up. According to Macron, the reform is “vital” for the viability of the pension system. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne also said earlier that the reform “is no longer a point of discussion”.
At the first demonstration on January 19, 80,000 demonstrators were on their feet in Paris. There were 1.1 million nationwide. According to estimates, the second time there were about 87,000 demonstrators in the French capital and 1.27 million nationwide. Exactly how many protesters took to the streets on Saturday is still unclear. It is clear, however, that more and more French people are turning against the reforms. Polls at the end of January showed that 72 percent are against, while in mid-January it was still 40 percent.
Also read this analysis of the French pension reform