The World Briefly

April 14, 2023

Dancing the Carmagnole

France

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French union advocates on Thursday continued their weeks-long demonstrations against the government’s plan to overhaul France’s pension system, a day before the country’s Constitutional Council decides on the legality of the contentious reform, Reuters reported.

Striking workers disrupted garbage collection in Paris and blocked river traffic on one part of the Rhine River in eastern France.

The latest unrest comes as the court will decide whether President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform proposal should be accepted, modified, or rejected based on the guidelines set by the French constitution, France 24 noted.

The bill aims to raise the state retirement age by two years to 64, a move the government says is necessary to ensure that France’s generous pension system does not go bust.

Unionizing workers, however, countered that government should tax the rich more to finance the system.

If the Council gives its permission – possibly with some caveats – the government will be able to implement the law, hoping that time will end the protests, which have at times become violent and galvanized mass opposition to Macron.

Even so, demonstrators said they would continue their fight if the Council greenlights the law, adding that they want a referendum on the issue or the bill to be reconsidered by parliament.

Macron plans to hold a meeting with unions following the Council’s vote to work on other suggestions – an initiative that union leaders believe will be short-lived if the president is unwilling to discuss abandoning the reform.

Political analysts believe that widespread dissatisfaction with the government’s pension plan may have long-term consequences, including a possible boost for the far right, which has expressed mixed support for the pension plan.

This story originally appeared in the April 14, 2023 newsletter, On the Precipice.