Nationwide strikes in France to stall Macron’s retirement reform

The French government is about to bring its new bill to officially increase the retirement age from 62 to 64. This move is expected to receive big push back from the unions as they plan a massive nationwide strike on Thursday.  

Intercity, commuter train services, many schools and other public services are expected to be shut down due to strikes. Paris metro will operate only two driverless lines. Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to take part in protests in Paris. The police will also be deployed in large numbers to avoid any violence by ultra-left “black bloc” infiltrators. 

President Emanuel Macron is going to face a pivotal moment in his second term as he tries to push through this reform. If forced to take rollback on the bill it would mark the end of any serious reforms in his second term. Steamrolling the reform is a hard option as its outcome would be rolling strikes in all the sectors effectively bringing the country to a standstill.

The attempt to bring this reform is not new. President Macron made an earlier more ambitious attempt in 2019 to execute the reform but had to step back due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The opposition argues there are cost-saving alternatives to making people work longer, such as cutting pensions. The concern over the reform is that it will hit the poor the hardest.

Every subsequent attempt to bring retirement reform since 1982 has been met with fierce public opposition, yet in most cases, the reform was ultimately successful. For instance, despite weeks of demonstrations, Nicolas Sarkozy increased the retirement age to 62 in 2010. 

Elisabeth Borne, French PM has pledged simpler options to retire early for those in hazardous or physically demanding occupations, initiatives to attract older people back into the workforce, and a greater guaranteed minimum pension to mitigate the consequences of the change.