Mass protests continue in France for eighth day

PARIS

Nationwide strikes and protests continued in France for an eighth day Thursday against President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform plans.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the French people needed to work two years longer to get a full pension, drawing a hostile response from trade unions, which said they would step up strike action to force an about-turn.

Tensions have been escalating in France after a meeting Monday between Jean-Paul Delevoye, the minister and high commissioner in charge of pension reform, and labor union leaders failed to break the impasse.

French unions called for people to take to the streets to continue mass demonstrations.

In Paris, protestors gathered at Nation Square, while in the city of Nantes, demonstrators rallied at a shopping mall.

-Protests in France

On Dec. 5, France saw one of the biggest strikes in its recent history, and strikers have continued to protest against Macron’s pension plans.

The Interior Ministry said 806,000 people took part in the protests, while labor unions put the number at nearly 1.5 million. Police used smoke bombs to disperse the crowds.

More than 90 people have been arrested, police said.

The "unlimited" strike impacted all public transport systems, according to local media reports.

The Parisian public transport operator RATP announced plans to continue striking through Monday, which will lead to major problems in the capital.

Airlines were told again Friday to reduce flights above France by 20%, meaning further cancelations affecting all flights in, out of or above the country.

Rail unions will also continue striking and service on national rail operator SNCF’s trains was reduced 90% beginning Thursday.

-Proposed reform

France currently has 42 different pension programs for different sectors, but the government proposed to unify those systems into one pension scheme.

France’s current program is based on the principle of solidarity between generations under which the working population finances the pensioners of that year.

But due to the aging population, fewer people are paying into the current system.

To fix this, the government introduced a point-based system that would compensate the workers with pension points for every day they work or every euro they contribute.

The reform would lift the privileges granted to civil servants and gradually increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, a move expected to adversely affect many sectors.

Workers would get full pensions if they retire at the age of 64. If they retired before, they would lose 5% of their pensions for every year they retire early.

They would also see a 5% increase in their pensions for every year if they retire after the age of 64.

The demonstrations and strikes have been supported by numerous labor and police unions as well as the Yellow Vests movement.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar