France mobilizes massively against Macron’s reform that delays retirement at 64

More than a million of people have demonstrated against the pension reform that the French government has proposed. Among them, hundreds of young people who have also taken the marches to the gates of their secondary schools in the capital.

65% of university and high school teachers, and between 70-100% of refineries have supported the general strike. They specifically protest against the delay of the retirement age at 64 and the obligation to contribute for 43 years to be able to collect full pension.

The marches have been massive since early in the morning in all the cities of the country. The stoppages have been noticed above all in public transport, with many stations even closed and only a third of the two large commuter lines in operation. The same is true of the Paris metro, where only the two driverless lines are available.

Tourists have had to give up visiting many symbolic places, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles, also closed all day.

With almost an entire country willing to stop to be heard, the leaders of the main unions have celebrated the massive turnout. In statements to the press, the leader of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Philippe Martínez, stressed that there are more protesters than on December 5, 2019, at the start of the protests against the previous pension reform project. .

Laurent Berger, secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Workers (CFDT), the country’s first union, has shown himself along the same lines, saying he felt “a strong mobilization, more than we thought.”

Both he and Martínez agreed that the protests will continue in the coming days unless the government back off and paralyze the processing of his project, which after its adoption in the Council of Ministers next Monday, must begin the parliamentary process at the beginning of February.