Thursday has been a day characterized by strikes and protests across the country. Thousands of workers have gathered in protest in the French cities of Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and Lyon, as well as several other places on Thursday afternoon. Arrests In Paris, 80,000 French people have taken to the streets to protest, the French authorities report. There are said to have been several arrests in Paris on Thursday evening. French media reports that 20-30 people have been arrested. Some for carrying illegal weapons, others for throwing stones or contributing to clashes and disturbances. Clashes are ongoing between protesters and police in Paris on Thursday afternoon. The image shows masked activists throwing sticks at the police. Photo: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP Reuters reports that on a national basis, around 1.1 million French people have taken part in the protests. news meets angry protesters On the streets of Paris, news’s reporter has met angry protesters who believe they deserve the retirement age they have today: A group of cleaning workers has this message for President Macron: – You are wrong! Those of us who have this job die early. Before that, we will have time to live, says Vincent. Vincent (th) and his cleaning worker colleagues protest against the proposal for a lower retirement age. Photo: Simen Ekern / news It was difficult for many to get to work today. Trains, buses, planes, railways and the metro are affected by the strike. In the capital, news meets Wally, who has been waiting an hour for the bus. – I am not against the strike, but it is a shame that transport is blocked. It’s perfectly fine for people to demonstrate, I understand that, but I think you have to let those who want to work work, he says. Wally has waited a long time for the bus today. Photo: Antonia Cimini / news The strikes have affected most of the train traffic, writes France 24. Around 20 percent of the air traffic in and out of the French capital has been affected. Closed schools According to France’s largest teachers’ union, around 70 percent of primary school teachers will leave the catheter empty on Thursday. – If we are going to work until we are 64, 65 or even 67, we have to ask ourselves what kind of condition we will be in, spokeswoman Guislaine David told the AFP news agency. The eight largest trade unions are behind the protests. Prepared for trouble The authorities have requested that the protests proceed peacefully, but are prepared that there may be trouble. On Thursday afternoon, the AFP news agency released images showing clashes between masked protesters and the police in Paris. Riot police with shields are prepared for violent demonstrations in French cities on Thursday afternoon. Photo: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP Nationwide, 10,000 police officers have been put on standby in an attempt to prevent riots. 1,500 of them will take to the streets of Paris. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin says, according to Le Monde, that he expects around 1,000 troublemakers to come to Paris who will cause unrest and problems. Tens of thousands of protesters gather in central Paris on Thursday afternoon. Photo: Simen Ekern / news Collective opposition The major trade unions in France have joined together and are ready to say clearly: A retirement age of 64 is completely unacceptable, they believe. Now the French workers are asking to stop work on Thursday 19 January, as the first of several days of action. The demonstrators represent many different professional groups. Here, firefighters that news met in Paris on Thursday. Photo: Simen Ekern / news The proposal put forward by Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne last week involves raising the retirement age for most French people from 62 to 64 and increasing the number of years of work required for full pension payment. Macron tries again President Emmanuel Macron already tried in his previous presidency to do something about one of Europe’s lowest retirement ages, but ended up putting the plans on the shelf. Now he tries again. The pension reform was an important part of Macron’s election campaign last spring. As he was actually re-elected, he believes that he has been given a mandate by the people to carry out what he has promised. If you ask the French today, it still doesn’t look like he has any majority behind him. The proposal is wildly unpopular. A survey carried out by Ifop for Le Journal de Dimanche shows that 68 per cent of those asked are against it. A protester in front of a banner with a portrait of the Prime Minister and the President. Photo: DAMIEN MEYER / AFP It was difficult for many to get to work today. Trains, buses, planes, railways and the metro are affected by the strike. In the capital, news meets Wally, who has been waiting an hour for the bus. Threatening to cut electricity Today, several of the employees in the electricity and gas industry can retire before they reach the age of 60. Now they warn that there may be cuts in energy supplies. The head of the energy and mining department of the CGT union, Sebastien Menesplier, has threatened to cut power to the offices of members of the French National Assembly. The organization is also threatening to cut the electricity to the country’s billionaires in connection with the protests. Protests at hospitals – We do not accept another day, month or year, Yann Le Baron, who is secretary of the trade union Unsa-Santé, has stated. Among other things, he represents care assistants who can now retire when they are 57 years old. According to the reform proposal, it will now be raised to 59. In March 2020, there were also large protests when the president wanted to change the pension scheme. Photo: Daniel Cole / AP For many of the health workers, a strike is impossible for the sake of the patients, but many of them show up to work with a symbolic armband that says they are on strike. The police are also campaigning French police officers in active service can now retire when they are 57 years old. Now they can also have their retirement age raised to 59. Here, too, the trade unions say it is out of the question and call for protests. Many other workers have also announced that they will strike. This applies to employees at the post office, in banks and at theaters and oil refineries. Demonstration in Toulouse. Photo: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP Macron gambles There is a lot of prestige at stake for President Macron in this matter. After the violent protests in autumn 2018, where “the yellow vests” dominated both the streets and the headlines, the president has some experience of what it means to have demonstrations directed at him. This time he does not believe in any total paralysis of the country, according to his advisers. Anything else would be “a victory for irresponsibility.” Demonstrations are underway in several French cities such as here in Lyon. Photo: NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP No matter how the day ends, Emmanuel Macron will observe it all from a distance: He is in Barcelona on the day France goes on strike. Thinks pension rights are fundamental Henri Sterdyniak, economics professor at Sciences Politiques in Paris, believes French residents see pension rights as a fundamental part of what it means to be French. – In Norway, the retirement age is 67. Why do the French react so strongly when Macron proposes 64? – In France, the retirement age is final, you have to wait until you are 64 if this reform goes through. In many other countries, you can retire earlier if you accept a reduced pension, he explains. Henri Sterdyniak. Photo: Antonia Cimini / news In addition, Sterdyniak believes that Macron’s calculation does not add up. It is only in the long term that the pension system in the country will run a deficit, and this deficit could be covered in other ways than raising the age, according to the professor. – You can maintain the pension system by carefully increasing payments, for example, he says to news. An empty platform at the Montparnasse station in Paris. Photo: GONZALO FUENTES / Reuters
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