French President Emmanuel Macron’s government faces a crucial week defending its pension reform, with pyrotechnics predicted in parliament and major strikes and demonstrations planned.
Left-wing opponents of the minority administration have filed thousands of amendments ahead of the Monday afternoon parliamentary debate. Walkouts and marches are scheduled for Tuesday and Saturday.
Operators predict “serious interruptions” on trains and the Paris metro, and one in five flights at Orly airport south of the city would be canceled Tuesday.
Macron’s main program of his second term is raising the retirement age, which he calls “necessary” given deficit estimates.
Will strikes sway Macron on pension reforms?
However, it is highly unpopular, and police counted 1.3 million people nationwide at last week’s protests, while unions reported 2.5 million.
France’s largest demonstration since 2010 occurred.
Francois Ruffin, a hard-left France Unbowed MP, stated, “It’s out in the nation that this will be settled, either by a rebellion or by enduring disdain” with the administration.
“The administration is no longer trying to convince people,” he said.
Macron’s government has held firm, with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne making a significant compromise on Sunday to earn Republicans’ backing.
Borne said those who started employment between 20 and 21 will be exempt from the increased legal minimum retirement age of 64, up from 62.
Laurent Berger, head of the CFDT union, called the offer a “patch” and “isn’t the reaction to the vast, geographically and professionally diversified mobilisation” in France.
The Parisien said that Republicans leader Eric Ciotti will support the legislation, perhaps giving the government a majority.
Macron was re-elected last year but lost his parliamentary majority, forcing him to compromise or pass measures through an unpopular constitutional side door.
Employ retirees
After the coronavirus crisis stalled a 2019 pensions reform, Macron’s changes match France’s economy with its EU neighbors, most of whom have higher retirement ages than 64 years.
He and his ministers want to eliminate the pensions deficit by 2030 by finding 18 billion euros ($19.5 billion) in yearly savings, largely by encouraging people to work longer and eliminating some special retirement systems.
Critics contend that women will have to wait longer for retirement than males since many take job breaks due to pregnancy and caregiving. Borne and others insist their proposal is fair.
Opponents also believe the legislation fails to account for builders and corporations’ reluctance to hire and keep older labor.
Borne said the government would urge employers to stop firing older workers, which leaves many unemployed in their final years before retirement.
“Too often, corporations stop training and recruiting older workers,” Borne told the JDD weekly on Sunday.
“It’s startling for employees and a loss to lose their abilities.”
