Nationwide Protests Flooding The Streets Of France Over Pension Reform
France is currently witnessing the largest nationwide strike the country has seen in years. BBC reports that school and transportation workers are being joined by employees of all kinds, including hospital staff, airline workers, lawyers, and even police officers in an effort to protest new planned pension reforms that the government is trying to implement. The protests originally sparked after President Emmanuel Macron announced his new universal points-based pension system, which would see that employees of any kind retire later in their career than originally planned, and also see reduced payouts in general (BBC). This universal system is the reason that workers of all types have joined forces to show Macron that no one on any economic level is okay with the program.
France’s current system consists of 42 different pension schemes that are divided based on the sector of employment; private or public. Macron wants to make it so that there’s just one unified system put in place.
“[Macron’s] new plan aims to reward employees for each day worked, awarding points that would later be transferred into future pension benefits. The move to a universal points-based pension system would remove the most advantageous pensions for a number of jobs ranging from sailors to lawyers and even opera workers,” BBC reports.
Citizens are protesting that the government is now basically enforcing that work needs to be their number one priority. In order to ensure they have a successful pension package at the end of their career that will leave them financially secure for retirement, they have to work extra hard and long until that point to gain the most points possible. Additionally, since the point system is based on how often you work those who plan on retiring earlier in life, for example before they turn 65, will receive a lower pension compared to someone who works until they’re 70. Even if the person who’s retiring earlier has a much larger salary than the one who’s retiring later in life, they can receive the same exact pension package based on the amount of time they’ve logged throughout their career; hence the union of teachers, lawyers, doctors, transport workers, etc.
The online chatter regarding the protest caused a rise in concern among law enforcement, so much so that popular tourist destinations have been shut down for the day, including the Eiffel Tower, and police began searching pedestrians’ bags for weapons before the sun even rose. Before the protests even began it was predicted that around 250 separate demonstrations would be occurring nationwide, and those predictions were spot on.
90% of all trains in the city have been cancelled, and 5 out of the 16 metro lines in Paris are up and running (BBC). Most commuters who weren’t participating in the protests either worked from home, carpooled in an attempt to minimize the amount of vehicle congestion on the roads, or just took their bikes. Transportation workers are expecting these travel delays to move well into the weekend as the protests continue, and due to airline staff also participating in the protests 30% of flights coming in and going out of France have been cancelled so far.
It’s currently unclear how long these protests will be going on for as many of the protesters are demanding the new pension program be completely tossed out before they cease striking. Even those who aren’t participating in the protests do support what it represents. An online poll showed that 70% of France’s citizens support the effort.
Train driver Cyril Romero, told the BBC he would reconsider his job if the reforms went through; “I started in 2001 with a contract that allowed me to leave at 50. But like everyone else, I got the reforms which pushed back my early retirement age to 52-and-a-half and then, in reality, 57-and-a-half for full pension. Now they want to make us work even longer.”
“For me, the pension reforms are one punch too many. We’re fighting not to lose hundreds of euros of pension a month after more than 40 years in a job. How can you even dream of ending your career in front of pupils beyond the age of 70, in worsening conditions and on what for many of us is just a minimum wage” said an unnamed history teacher.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.