During protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform, there were clashes between the police and demonstrators in France on Saturday for the third night in a row. Garbage cans and rubbish bins were set on fire in the capital Paris, and the police used tear gas.
There were also protests in other cities in the country, including in Nantes, Marseille and Bordeaux. Unions want to reverse the increase People reject the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 years, which President Emmanuel Macron pushed through on Thursday, bypassing a parliamentary vote . A broad alliance of the most important French trade unions has announced further actions to reverse the increase. In the past few weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets against the plans. On Friday, 61 people were temporarily arrested in the course of the protests. Garbage mountains are piling up As a result of the protests, the garbage mountains are also piling up in the capital. There was also a strike in refineries on Saturday. Around 37 percent of employees in TotalEnergies refineries and depots stopped work. The strikes also continued on the railways. Raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 Macron justified raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years with the fact that otherwise the pension system would collapse. Fearing a defeat in parliament, his government pushed through the plan without a vote, citing an article in the constitution that allows this. Raising the retirement age is considered one of the President’s most important projects. Observers had said that bypassing the vote was proof that Macron’s ability to organize majorities for reform projects had suffered. This should now also affect future projects, it was said. The protests of the past three days are reminiscent of the “yellow vest” rallies that broke out at the end of 2018 due to high fuel prices and forced Macron to make a partial U-turn at the time.
