“It’s a great May 1st. It is not the end of the fight, it is the protest of the world of work against this reform“, stressed the CFDT union leader Laurent Bergerat the beginning of the demonstration in Paris on the occasion of International Workers’ Day.
As since March 16, when the liberal president Emmanuel Macron decided to adopt by decree its reform that delays the retirement age from 62 to 64 years by 2030the marches there were clashes between police and radical protesters in Paris and other cities.
Since the start of the social conflict in January, the second largest economy in the European Union (EU) has focused world attention. This Monday, union representatives from Korea, Turkey, Colombia and Spain, among others, were present in Paris.
“It is not about preserving pensions in France, but throughout the world. People should be able to retire with dignity,” said David Huerta, 56, a representative of the US services union SEIU-USWW.
The pension reform in Francewhich the government wants to apply from September, has called into question the importance given to work in the lives of citizensafter the covid pandemic and its confinements, and in full concern about the climate crisis.
“The covid was a kind of revelation and crisis of workan ethical questioning to the weight of it”, summarized the sociologist Marc Loriol on France Inter radio in January, days after the start of the protests in France.
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environmental activists paint was sprayed on the façade of the Louis Vuitton Foundation and the headquarters of the French Ministry of Justicein the famous Place Vendôme, to denounce, in this last case, a “law [de las pensiones] ‘climateicide’”.
But to this was added global concerns about purchasing powerbefore him rising food and energy prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
He United Kingdomwhere inflation exceeds 10%, lives for example a wave of social movements to demand an increase in wagesboth in public services and in the private sector.
This claimedor was also present at demonstrations held in Europe, from Portugal to Greece, especially when it already caused demonstrations or sectoral strikes in recent months in various countries, including Canada or Argentina.
“Even with 5% [de aumento salarial]it’s complicated. If prices were at that level, perhaps one could continue living, but they have risen much more,” said Runold Jacobskötter, a 67-year-old retiree, during a protest on Monday in Berlin.
“MACRON RESIGNATION”
In France, unions are determined to continue the fight against an “unfair” reform who consider that it punishes women who interrupted their career to take care of their children, and for those who started working very young.
The protests on May 1 gathered between 782,000 and 2.3 million peopleaccording to the authorities and the CGT union respectively, although they did not reach the level of mobilization at the beginning of March.
The way out of the crisis seems difficult. The unions hope that the Constitutional Council validate on Wednesday a request from the left-wing opposition to organize a referendum limiting the retirement age to 62after rejecting a similar proposal.
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Macronwho defends the reform as a way to avoid a future deficit in the pension fund, For his part, he seeks to relaunch his second term until 2027. But during his visits to France It does not stop having casseroles and boos.
“Macron’s resignation”read a huge handmade yellow vest that protesters placed on the statue that presides over the Place de la République in Paris, from where the demonstration started.
One of the points on Macron’s roadmap to overcome the conflict is negotiate better working conditionsbut the unions They have not yet decided if they will attend the meeting together that Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne will propose to you shortly.
The imposition of reform caused a deterioration of the confidence of the French in their president and in the institutionsa situation that, according to polls, benefits the far-right deputy Marine Le Pen, who gathered her supporters this Monday in Le Havre (northwest).
