(Bloomberg) — French unions pledged to keep up their fight against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the minimum retirement age after turnout surged to its highest yet in a sixth day of protests on Tuesday.
(Bloomberg) — French unions pledged to keep up their fight against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the minimum retirement age after turnout surged to its highest yet in a sixth day of protests on Tuesday.
The number of people taking part in marches across the country rose to 1.28 million, according to Interior Ministry figures, slightly exceeding the previous peak of 1.27 million recorded on Jan. 31.
“The government must now withdraw its plan,” Patricia Drevon, an official from the Force Ouvriere union, told a news conference in Paris, calling the reform “unfair and brutal.”
Getting the French to work longer and retire later is a key plank of Macron’s plan to make the economy more attractive for investment and business. He says raising the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 is necessary to keep public finances sound while funding other priorities such as the green transition.
Speaking on behalf of a group of labor unions, which share broad opposition to the overhaul, Drevon said they plan to write to the president demanding an urgent meeting. She called for fresh protests on Saturday, followed by another day of strikes next week.
Opinion polls indicate French opposition to the reform remains high, though off its peak. A survey of 1,002 adults by pollster Ifop for L’Humanite newspaper on March 2-3 showed 65% want the government to withdraw it and support renewable strikes.
Provisional government figures showed a sharp uptick in public sector workers striking on Tuesday. The numbers were still slightly below those seen at the same time on the first day of protests on Jan. 19.
Labor leaders have said many workers are limiting the number of days they walk out in order to preserve incomes at a time when surging inflation is already pushing up the cost of living.
Rail company SNCF said services were severely disrupted due to Tuesday’s strikes and would remain so on Wednesday, urging travelers to postpone trips. Eurostar has scrapped 38 international trains linking London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam over the two days.
Paris subway and commuter schedules were also heavily impacted, according to operator RATP, which advised people to work from home if possible and predicted further disruption on Wednesday. Air France said it expected to operate eight out of 10 short- and medium-haul flights on both days.
Trucks were unable to access any of France’s six main oil refineries due to striking workers, disrupting supply of fuels such as gasoline and diesel to the nation’s filling stations.
Walkouts curbed Electricite de France SA’s hydropower capacity by 7.6 gigawatts on Tuesday afternoon. They also reduced several gigawatts of output from nuclear and gas-fired power plants. EDF said worker participation in the strikes was at 47.7%, compared with a peak of 50% on Jan. 19.
Macron’s government has shown no sign of backing down in the face of the protests. Indeed, a poll of 1,119 people by Harris Interactive for RTL radio and AEF Info on March 3-6 showed 79% of those interviewed expect parliament ultimately to adopt the changes.
The legislation is being reviewed by the Senate through March 12. The goal is for it to come into effect in September.
Macron’s determination to push through the reform despite public opposition is set against a backdrop of mounting concern over inflation. Consumer prices in France jumped by a euro-era record of 7.2% in February from a year ago as food and services costs increased.
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“There’s of course never a good moment to carry out a pension reform, but some times are worse than others — and this is a particularly bad one,” Bernard Sananes, president of pollster Elabe, told Bloomberg. “The pension reform is adding a layer of difficulty to those whose daily life is already difficult, and this is what the government underestimated.”
On Monday, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire unveiled a deal with retailers in which they agreed to take a hit to their margins amounting to several hundred million euros by offering the lowest possible prices for essential food items during a three-month campaign to help households.
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As for the impact of the strikes on the French economy, it shouldn’t be overestimated, according to Charlotte de Montpellier, ING senior economist for France and Switzerland.
“Disruptions have been, for now, limited to some very specific sectors, such as transport,” she wrote. “Given the development of home working since the pandemic, it is likely that the indirect costs of transport disruptions on other sectors of activity will be much more limited than in previous strikes.”
The hit to economic growth could become quantifiable if the protests intensify drastically and some sectors are blocked for several weeks, she said, though an impact greater than 0.2 percentage points seems very unlikely.
–With assistance from Julien Ponthus, Francois de Beaupuy and Frank Connelly.
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