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Latest Bid by France's Macron to Quell Protests Over Neoliberal Pension Scheme Fails as Strikes Continue
24/12/19
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The French president's approach has generated a resistance movement with protesters blockading streets and engaging in a general strike.
December 23, 2019
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday attempted to quell protests over his scheme to curtail the scope of France's pension system by announcing he would forego his own presidential pension—but the demonstrations, which shut down the country for the week leading up to Christmas, were nonetheless expected to continue through the holiday.
The 42-year-old French president said he would give up an automatic pension of €6,000 ($6653.19) a month after leaving office.
French protesters were not having it, as Bloomberg News explained:
Labor unions, which have led opposition to Macron's plans, have vowed to continue striking and marching during Christmas and into January. The CGT labor confederation on Monday said it was planning actions every day during the holiday season and stuck to its demands that the government must withdraw its planned reform. The union's railroad branch earlier had told AFP they would hold a concert at the Austerlitz train station in central Paris on Christmas Eve, as well as dinners in other stations.
Some workers in fuel depots have started blocking facilities in Lavera in Southern France, and others threaten to follow. Energy grid workers at EDF resorted to localized "sabotage" actions, temporarily cutting power to households or stadiums. Paris Metro is still severely disrupted, and less then half of the trains are planned to run on Tuesday across France.
Macron's proposed change to France's pensions would raise the age for a full pension to 64 from 62 and reinterpret the system to award payments based on points. The approach has generated a resistance movement with protesters blockading streets and engaging in a general strike.
Hundreds of people are blockading the HQ of the RATP Bus Company in #Paris, as transport workers continue the General Strike against Macron's Pension Cuts.#Greve23decembre #GiletsJaunes
To protest attacks on their pensions, striking workers in the small town of Anglet, France dumped two tons of manure in front of a public event held by President Macron's party.
French workers win the prize for creative militancy [See video below here.]
Though the strikes are disrupting travel during the holiday, the French support the actions.
Recent polling shows 62% of the country is behind the movement.
[Top photo: A procession of demonstrators marched in front of the statue of the Republic with trade union flags and banners calling for struggle on December 19, 2019, the fifteenth day of a national strike. (Photo: Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto/Getty Images)]
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