The French government on Wednesday played down the possibility of mass strikes and protests over pension reforms that are due to start next week.
All of France’s main trade unions have called for stoppages and mass meetings next Thursday to protest the government’s plan to raise the retirement age to 64 from the current level of 62, a change that is unpopular with the public.
The impact of the protest
Many observers expect a bitter battle over the next month that could disrupt transportation and public services.
“We are not focused on the possibility of large protests or the impact of those protests,” spokesman Olivier Veran told reporters at a briefing.
Also read: Macron’s reputation on the line with pension reform push
“We have completed the consultation phase and we are entering the clarification and information phase.”
Asked if he was “scared” of the war ahead, he replied: “It doesn’t scare me.”
|
“In the modern history of our country, every time people have to work a little longer, every time we have to reform the pension system… there are protests,” he told Franceinfo radio station.
President Emmanuel Macron, whose credibility is on the line with the reforms he has championed since coming to power in 2017, called on ministers on Wednesday to sell “important and important” changes to deeply skeptical voters.
Also read: Macron pushes the French language in an unprecedented way
He called on ministers to emphasize “social progress” in the changes, such as a minimum pension of 1,200 euros ($1,287) a month and allowances for people who are sick or have physically demanding work.
Veran said that “people who start working earlier will be able to retire at 58” and that four out of 10 workers will not have to reach the new limit of 64 to retire.
– ‘Sadist’-
Polls suggest that around two-thirds of French people are now against the changes and a majority support calls for protests.
The draft law is expected to be presented to the hung national parliament in early February, with Macron’s minority MPs having the support of the right-wing Republican opposition group to pass it.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party has announced her aim to be “leader of the opposition for reform” – a role also sought by the leftist France Unbowed party.
Macron also seeks bigger military budget in ‘war economy’
Le Pen called the reforms “unfair and brutal” on Wednesday, saying Macron was pressured by the European Union or “sadistic” over the cost-of-living crisis caused by high inflation.
“I told this prime minister, there is a sadistic side, like a child pulling his wings to fly,” Le Pen told parliamentary reporters.
“At a time when the French are facing serious difficulties … with household budgets collapsing, you are reforming the pension system with extreme haste,” he added.
|