French unions call for two more days of action in fight against pension reforms

Leading French unions on Tuesday night announced two separate days of action against Emmanuel Macron's plans to revamp the country's pensions system

The eight anointed 7 and 11 February as the focal points for nationwide protests aimed at forcing Macron's government to renounce proposals to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

"The government must listen to the massive rejection of its project and withdraw it," said Patricia Drevon, one of the chiefs of the Force ouvrière union who read a statement from the union pact that includes the CFDT, CGT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, Solidaires and FSU.

The move for more demonstrations follows a day in which official figures estimated that nearly 1.3 million people took to the streets of France to express their opposition to one of Macron's main policies.

On 19 January, one million protesters gathered throughout the country.

The CGT claimed 2.8 million people demonstrated on Tuesday.

Praise
Gerald Darmanin, France's interior minister, praised the police for ensuring the protests took place orderly.

"My gratitude to the officers who, once again, allowed the demonstrations to go ahead in safe conditions," Darmanin tweeted.

But the day brought widespread chaos. Schools and colleges closed as teachers and lecturers took to the streets. Transport systems were also disrupted.

The rail operator, SNCF, removed just over 7,000 trains out of 9,633 scheduled to run outside the Paris region.

Stance
Before the day of protest, Elisabeth Borne, the Prime Minister, said the government might be willing to reconsider certain parts of the pension reforms.

But she said the new minimum age of 64 was non-negotiable.

On Tuesday night, Borne attempted to project a more conciliatory stance as French MPs debated the minutiae of the proposals in the Assemblée nationale.

"The pension reform raises questions and doubts," Borne tweeted. "We hear them. The parliamentary debate opens. It will make it possible, in transparency, to enrich our project with a goal: to ensure the future of our pay-as-you-go system. It is our responsibility."

France's retirement age of 62 is among the lowest in Europe. The government claims maintaining the option will become financially unsustainable. 

However, Macron's opponents say the system is currently balanced. The head of the independent Pensions Advisory Council recently told the French parliament that pension spending was not out of control.