Mass protest and strike against planned pension reform in France No new virus variants have been discovered so far in China

In many French cities, people have once again taken to the streets against the pension reform plans of the government of President Emmanuel Macron.

In Toulouse, Rennes and Grenoble, for example, demonstrations were held on Tuesday morning, strikes started in schools, on the railways and in refineries, among others. Nationally, 11,000 police officers and gendarmes are deployed.

The French government wants to gradually increase the regular retirement age from 62 to 64 years because the current system can no longer be financed in the long term. In addition, the number of payment years required for a full pension must increase more rapidly. A number of individual systems with privileges for certain professional groups will be abolished.

The retirement age is currently 62 years. In fact, retirement starts later on average: those who have not paid in long enough to be entitled to a full pension continue to work longer. At age 67 there is then a pension with no deductions, no matter how long it has been paid – this is what the government wants to keep. She wants to increase the monthly minimum pension to around 1,200 euros.

The unions had called for the strike and protest day. They view the reform as unfair and ruthless. More than a million people took part in the first major day of action almost two weeks ago, according to the Interior Ministry. The trade unions spoke of two million people. They now hope for at least as many participants. Meanwhile, the reform project is already being examined by the responsible social committee of the National Assembly. (aeg/sda/dpa)