COPY LINK

STRIKES

‘Pension reform is an insult’: More than a million protesters take to streets in France

More than a million people took to the streets of France on Thursday, on the first day of what unions have claimed will be the 'mother of all battles' against pension reform. The Local spoke to the demonstrators about their demands and how long they think the strikes will last.

Published: 19 January 2023 16:10 CET
Updated: 19 January 2023 19:34 CET

'Pension reform is an insult': More than a million protesters take to streets in France

A demonstrator holds a sign reading 'Don't touch my pension' during a protest Clermont-Ferrand - one of dozens that took place across France on Thursday. Photo by THIERRY ZOCCOLAN / AFP

Thursday marked the “first day of mobilisation” in the battle against Emmanuel Macron’s planned reform of the French pension system, with strikes that brought large parts of the national rail network and city public transport to a halt.

In addition to the strikes, demonstrations took place in towns and cities around France, as people marched declaring their opposition to the proposed changes, which includes raising the pension age from 62 to 64.

5 minutes to understand French pension reform

Early estimates of turnout were 36,000 people in Toulouse, 26,000 in Marseille, 25,000 in Nantes, 19,000 in Clermont-Ferrand, 15,000 in Montpellier, 14,000 in Tours, 12,000 in Perpignan and Orléans, 6,500 in Mulhouse and Périgueux, 13,600 in Pau, 9,000 in Angoulême and 8,000 in Châteauroux.

In total, the interior ministry said there were around 1.1 people on the street across France, although the hardline CGT union claimed over 2 million demonstrators had turned up. Unions had called for 1 million people to protest on Thursday.

In Paris, tens of thousands of protesters met at Place de la République before marching to Nation.

In response to President Macron’s proposed pension reforms (including raising the minimum age to 64), French unions have called for a day of widespread mobilisation. I’ll be tweeting live from the start of the rally at Republique in Paris pic.twitter.com/bvFTtpYY75

— Genevieve Mansfield (@gen_mansfield) January 19, 2023

Civil servant Sarah, 28, told us: “I think the pension reform is profoundly unjust – it is a political choice to favour the big businesses and make the employees work more.

“I think that the French really suffered during the pandemic, and to put this reform back on the table is an insult to the French people. I think the French are angry. I hope people will protest the same as in 2019.”

However she added that there was a generational divide in views about pension reform, saying: “The people under 50 are very against the reform, but the over 50s just repeat the government’s talking points. They say that there is not enough money for everyone without actually questioning and reflecting about the budget of the country.”

Listen to the team at The Local discussing the next steps of the pension protests on our Talking France podcast. Listen on the link below or download HERE.

School teacher Charles, who also described himself as a “revolutionary and anarchist” said: “I will certainly continue to strike, and to turn up at demos, but the strike is the important thing. In France we have had many major strikes – such as those in 1968 – which have allowed us to advance social reforms.

“This demo is the biggest I have been to in the last two years. I think that people are fed up with inflation and they are turning out because they think we have a chance of winning.”

Marc, who has worked as a haulier for 25 years, said the changes were particularly dangerous for his industry, as “our reflexes diminish as we get older”.

The UNSA transport union was present among those lined up ahead of the march. Marc, who has worked as a truck driver for over 25 years talked about the fact that many drivers have their reflexes diminish after age 60. pic.twitter.com/BQiwj9aTlJ

— Genevieve Mansfield (@gen_mansfield) January 19, 2023

“I have a 44-tonne truck that goes at 80km/h – Emmanuel Macron wants to put, on the French roads, people who are older than 60 in charge of trucks knowing that our reflexes diminish significantly at a certain age.

He added: “We will need a general mobilisation, of all generations, the young and the non-young, workers and the retired. There is a bit of support, but not enough. We hope that students will join us, because there will definitely be another reform, and they will go higher than 65.”

Didier, 68, is already retired so won’t be directly touched by the reform, but the former ‘yellow vest’ said he had come to the protest to support the next generation.

He said: “I have been protesting for the last four years, and I will continue until Macron and others leave.”

But he bemoaned the apathy of a younger generation saying: “For many people their priority is just to stay home and watch the football. It’s sad but that’s how it is.

“I don’t think the unions will win this fight, they will sit down with the government and sell out. It’s sad to say but that is what will happen.”

Police officer Christophe, currently working in an administrative role for the Police nationale, was among the protesters.

He said: “We do not have the right to strike as police, but if we are not heard today then yes we will protest and maybe take other actions in the future.

“As police, what is happening on the street is more difficult than ever and for sure we cannot work past the age of 60, it is not possible to be on the beat after that age.

“At the moment I think there is strong support for the protests, but once the daily life of French people is impacted, it’s true there might not be support – you know, no trains, no people to watch the kids – but we have to see things as a whole. After all, everyone is impacted by the pension reform.”

Student Léo, from Toulouse, said: “For the moment I think the majority of people support this action. And many people support us “blocking the country” – we’re all going to be touched by Macron’s reforms, except for the big bosses.

“The government defends only the interests of the bosses and we are tens of thousand here to fight against this together.

“We need a strong strike to combat this,” he added calling for a ‘grève generale‘ or general strike continuing indefinitely.”

Around the Bastille area of Paris, radical demonstrators hurled bottles, bins and smoke grenades at police who responded with tear gas and charged to disperse the troublemakers, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

Les groupes de black-blocs saccagent les abribus l’un après l’autre bvd Diderot #Blackbloc #Manif19Janvier pic.twitter.com/0cDvTZYmyd

— Elisabeth Pierson (@zazpierson) January 19, 2023

Some 30 people were arrested, mostly members of the Black Blocs, who wore masks, helmets and black clothes, police said, adding they had managed to split off the group from the main demonstration.

No major violent incidents were reported elsewhere in France.

On Thursday evening, unions announced that a second day of mass strikes would take place on Tuesday, January 31st.

Member comments

Anonymous - 19 January 2023 at 19:16 CET

Hard to feel any sympathy for the unions when the UK retirement age is moving towards 67. They have to get real and acknowledge that the population is living longer and the pensions actually need to be paid for. The alternative is massive tax increases and I think we know how that would go down…

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Azerbaijan vehemently rejects the accusation it bears responsibility for the riots that have led to the deaths of five people and rattled the Paris government.

But it is just the latest in a litany of tensions between Paris and Baku and not the first time France has accused Azerbaijan of being behind an alleged disinformation campaign.

The riots in New Caledonia, a French territory lying between Australia and Fiji, were sparked by moves to agree a new voting law that supporters of independence from France say discriminates against the indigenous Kanak population.

Paris points to the sudden emergence of Azerbaijani flags alongside Kanak symbols in the protests, while a group linked to the Baku authorities is openly backing separatists while condemning Paris.

“This isn’t a fantasy. It’s a reality,” interior minister Gérald Darmanin told television channel France 2 when asked if Azerbaijan, China and Russia were interfering in New Caledonia.

“I regret that some of the Caledonian pro-independence leaders have made a deal with Azerbaijan. It’s indisputable,” he alleged.

But he added: “Even if there are attempts at interference… France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better”.

“We completely reject the baseless accusations,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh said.

“We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan.”

In images widely shared on social media, a reportage broadcast Wednesday on the French channel TF1 showed some pro-independence supporters wearing T-shirts adorned with the Azerbaijani flag.

Tensions between Paris and Baku have grown in the wake of the 2020 war and 2023 lightning offensive that Azerbaijan waged to regain control of its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists.

France is a traditional ally of Christian Armenia, Azerbaijan’s neighbour and historic rival, and is also home to a large Armenian diaspora.

Darmanin said Azerbaijan – led since 2003 by President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father Heydar – was a “dictatorship”.

On Wednesday, the Paris government also banned social network TikTok from operating in New Caledonia.

Tiktok, whose parent company is Chinese, has been widely used by protesters. Critics fear it is being employed to spread disinformation coming from foreign countries.

Azerbaijan invited separatists from the French territories of Martinique, French Guiana, New Caledonia and French Polynesia to Baku for a conference in July 2023.

The meeting saw the creation of the “Baku Initiative Group”, whose stated aim is to support “French liberation and anti-colonialist movements”.

The group published a statement this week condemning the French parliament’s proposed change to New Caledonia’s constitution, which would allow outsiders who moved to the territory at least 10 years ago the right to vote in its elections.

Pro-independence forces say that would dilute the vote of Kanaks, who make up about 40 percent of the population.

“We stand in solidarity with our Kanak friends and support their fair struggle,” the Baku Initiative Group said.

Raphael Glucksmann, the lawmaker heading the list for the French Socialists in June’s European Parliament elections, told Public Senat television that Azerbaijan had made “attempts to interfere… for months”.

He said the underlying problem behind the unrest was a domestic dispute over election reform, not agitation fomented by “foreign actors”.

But he accused Azerbaijan of “seizing on internal problems.”

A French government source, who asked not to be named, said pro-Azerbaijani social media accounts had on Wednesday posted an edited montage purporting to show two white police officers with rifles aimed at dead Kanaks.

“It’s a pretty massive campaign, with around 4,000 posts generated by (these) accounts,” the source told AFP.

“They are reusing techniques already used during a previous smear campaign called Olympia.”

In November, France had already accused actors linked to Azerbaijan of carrying out a disinformation campaign aimed at damaging its reputation over its ability to host the Olympic Games in Paris. Baku also rejected these accusations.