Protests in France as unions make last-ditch bid to resist higher retirement age

President Emmanuel Macron’s move to raise the retirement age to 64 from 62 inflamed public emotions. (AP)

• French union activists seek to reignite resistance to a higher retirement age
• President Emmanuel Macron says pension reform needed to finance the pension system as the population ages

PARIS: French union activists marched on the headquarters of the Paris Olympics and slowed traffic at the capital’s Orly Airport with strikes Tuesday as they sought to reignite resistance to a higher retirement age.
But the last-ditch effort drew fewer followers than at the height of the movement earlier this year, and even some union leaders seemed ready to move on.
President Emmanuel Macron’s move to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 — and force the measure through parliament without a vote — inflamed public emotions and triggered some of France’s biggest demonstrations in years. But the intensity of anger over the pension reform has ebbed since the last big protests on May 1, which more than 500,000 people attended in Paris alone, and since the measure became law in April.
As part of Tuesday’s actions, a third of flights were canceled at Paris’ Orly Airport because of strikes, and about 10 percent of trains around France were disrupted. Around 250 marches, rallies and other actions were planned around the country to mark the 14th day of national protest since January over the pension reform.
A small group of activists with the hard-left CGT union pushed their way into the headquarters of the 2024 Olympics in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, chanting anti-Macron slogans.
In Paris, mild tensions flared near a restaurant in the Left Bank as individuals engaged in minor vandalism of bus shelters and threw objects at police. Police quickly dispersed the crowds.
Thousands gathered along the embankments of the Seine River near the gold-domed Invalides monument before setting off on their march to southeast Paris. The peaceful crowd waved union flags, banged drums and chanted to demand the withdrawal of the pension law and a lower retirement age.
In the western city of Rennes, union activists marched on train tracks before being turned back by police, according to local public broadcaster France Bleu.
Macron says the pension reform was needed to finance the pension system as the population ages. Unions and left-wing opponents say the changes hurt poorer workers and have argued for higher taxes on the wealthy and employers instead.
The outgoing head of the moderate CFDT union, Laurent Berger, said that after Tuesday’s actions, “we will continue to contest the retirement reform, but it will take on a different form.”
CGT chief Sophie Binet told reporters at the Paris march that other protests are ‘’probable,” but she too said it was time to talk about other issues such as working conditions or tax fraud by companies.
Organizers of Tuesday’s protests hope to rally support before a possible parliamentary debate on Thursday on a bill that is seeking to repeal the new retirement age.
Legislators from centrist opposition group LIOT proposed the bill to put back the retirement age to 62. But it has already met challenges before it reaches the parliamentary floor. While Macron’s centrist party doesn’t have a majority in the National Assembly, it has allied with the conservative Republicans party to push back the opposition’s efforts.