Strong mobilization in France against the unpopular pension reform

The French have massively taken to the streets on Tuesday for the second time in less than two weeks to protest against the unpopular pension reform, the flagship project of the second and last term of Emmanuel Macron.

A majority of citizens are opposed to increasing the retirement age from 62 to 64, as the president wants.

The Government considers that the reform is "indispensable" and refuses to give in.

The demonstrations and strikes coincide with the start of the parliamentary procedure to adopt the law.

It is a pulse of unpredictable result that can define the legacy of Macron, who came to power in 2017 under the banner of reformism.

As in the first day of protests, on January 19, hundreds of thousands of people have mobilized and key sectors such as transport and energy have been largely paralyzed.

That day, more than a million people took to the streets throughout France (1.2, according to the government; two million according to the organizers), unusually high numbers.

The first figures show two parallel phenomena.

The mobilization in the street seems to be maintained and in some cities it is greater.

In Marseille, in the morning, 205,000 people gathered, according to the CGT union, and 40,000 according to the police (on January 19 there were 140,000, according to the CGT and 26,000, according to the police).

At the same time, the strike has less follow-up this time, according to data released at noon.

In schools and high schools, 26% of teachers continued the strike, according to the Ministry of National Education, 12 points less than on January 19.

In the public railway company SNCF, the follow-up was 36.5%, according to the unions, compared to 46.3% on the previous day of protest.

Among state civil servants, 19.4% went on strike, compared to 28% on January 19, according to the government.

At the TotalEnergies refineries, which partially blocked France in the autumn to obtain a wage increase, there were between 75% and 100% strikers on Tuesday morning, according to the CGT union.

The Interior Ministry has deployed 11,000 police officers throughout the country.

In the final stretch of the march in Paris there were clashes between groups of protesters and the police, who arrested 18 people.

The novelty, compared to previous years, is the united union front: even the moderate CFDT, the first union in France and habitual support of the Government, has joined.

And a level of rejection of the plan - close to three out of four French consider it unfair - that certifies the divorce between Macron and a large part of the citizenry.

French riot police push back protesters as clashes break out, during demonstrations on the second day of nationwide protests over the government's proposed pension reform, this Monday in the city of Nantes.LOIC VENANCE (AFP)

Protesters gather in the Place d'Italie square (Paris), during the second day of strikes and protests across the country over the pension reform proposed by the government.

France is bracing for major transport blockades, with massive strikes and demonstrations planned for the second time in a month, in objection to a proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

ALAIN JOCARD (AFP)

Protesters with banners and flags on the second day of a national strike for pension reform, in Saint-Denis, the French Indian island of La Reunion, on January 31. RICHARD BOUHET (AFP)

Parisians join the demonstration against the reform of the pension system planned by the French government, this Tuesday, January 31, in the French capital.YOAN VALAT (EFE)

Members of the anti-crime brigade (BAC) police monitor and try to control the situation in the city of Nantes this Monday, during a rally on the second day of strikes and protests in France.

LOIC VENANCE (AFP)

A protester holds a smoke bomb in front of an anti-capitalist banner during the second day of a national strike against the pension reform proposed by the government, in Paris on January 31.JULIEN DE ROSA (AFP)

A man rides a bike with a banner that reads: "Whoever sows misery reaps anger", during the second day of the general strike against the pension reform, in Nantes on January 31. LOIC VENANCE (AFP)

A protester hits a boat to make noise while people take part in a demonstration against the reform of the pension system planned by the French government, in Montpellier. GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO (EFE)

French activist Jean-Baptiste Redde, also known as Voltuan (center), holds a sign reading "Macron, Borne must withdraw" during a demonstration in Paris, this Tuesday.JULIEN DE ROSA (AFP)

Union leaders, with the general secretary of the CGT union, Philippe Martínez, in the center, and the general secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT) union, Laurent Berger, on the right, lead a demonstration on Tuesday, March 31. January in Paris.Christophe Ena (AP)

A combo with several images of some banners that protesters have carried in Toulouse during the second day of protests throughout France.

LIONEL BONAVENTURE (AFP)

French police remain in position amid clashes with protesters during a demonstration in Paris. GONZALO FUENTES (REUTERS)

A man looks at the information board at the Montparnasse train station during a strike by French railway workers in Paris as part of the national strike day, Tuesday.

SARAH MEYSSONNIER (REUTERS)

French riot police push back protesters as clashes break out during a demonstration on the second day of nationwide strikes and protests over the government's proposed pension reform, in Nantes on Tuesday. LOIC VENANCE (AFP)

Protesters hold a banner reading "Pensions, no Macron's reform", during the second day of the general strike in France, in the city of Mende, this Tuesday, January 31. PASCAL GUYOT (AFP)

Demonstrators hold CGT union flags during the second day of a nationwide strike, in Toulouse on January 31.LIONEL BONAVENTURE (AFP)

Riot police clash with protesters as clashes break out during a demonstration on the second day of nationwide strikes and protests over the government's proposed pension reform, in Nantes this Tuesday, January 31. LOIC VENANCE (AFP)

Protesters walk through the smoke from flares at the end of the demonstration against plans to delay the retirement age in Paris.Thibault Camus (AP)

discontent thermometer

Tuesday's day allows you to take the temperature of social discontent.

In Paris, the demonstration started from the Place d'Italia at 2:00 p.m. in a festive atmosphere.

The union presence was notable, but there were also students, retirees and

.

"Raise wages, not retirement age," read one billboard.

Another said: "If you put us 64, we repeat a May of 68."

And another: "There is no alternative: retirement at 60."

“We don't want to work that long,” said Xavier, 59, who works in IT services for a town hall in a small town near Paris.

"We are tired," added her wife, Nathalie, 58, who works at a pharmacy where she works on her feet all day.

Will the protests be enough to change the president's mind?

“No”, ditch Xavier.

“The country must be blocked for 15 days.”

The unions and the opposition hope that street pressure will force the government to withdraw the reform or, at least, its most controversial aspects.

For Macron, re-elected in May against the far-right Marine Le Pen, this is a central project for the second five-year period.

If he folds, his credibility as a reformist president will be affected.

If he goes ahead, he risks the rest of his term, until 2027, being marked by social unrest and new eruptions of anger like the

in 2018 and 2019.

The president maintains that, with the aging of the population, prolonging working life is necessary to preserve a dignified and fair pension system.

The detractors of the reform point out that this will penalize people who started working younger and in jobs that involve physical wear and tear.

Precisely those who, during the lockdowns due to the pandemic, contributed to keeping our societies on their feet.

French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne has had a hard time persuading public opinion.

The opposition does not give up, although the Government trusts that, in the long run, the resignation will make a dent in the protesters and this will facilitate its adoption.

Battle in the Assembly

The ball is in the National Assembly.

The problem for Macron is that, since the June legislative elections, he has lacked an absolute majority, despite having the first parliamentary group.

Without the votes of Los Republicanos (LR), the party of the moderate right, it will be far from the 289 deputies that mark the threshold of the majority.

And it seems more and more complicated.

Not all the 62 deputies of LR want to approve the reform.

And doubts arise among the 250 deputies of the three parties of the macronista bloc: Renacimiento, Modem and Horizontes.

That is also what the demonstrations and strikes are about: to put pressure on the deputies who every day can verify in their districts the rejection caused by the reform.

If the Government does not find a parliamentary majority, it has an alternative: apply article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows the debates to end and the law to be adopted.

In this case, the opposition can only abort it with a motion of censure.

Macron has suggested that if a vote of no confidence against the prime minister were successful, he would dissolve the National Assembly and call new legislative elections.

The battle has only just begun.

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