France Braces for New Pension Strikes, Mass Protests

Protesters hold a banner reading "all on strike" during a rally called by French trade unions in Toulouse, southwestern France, on January 19, 2023. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
Protesters hold a banner reading "all on strike" during a rally called by French trade unions in Toulouse, southwestern France, on January 19, 2023. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
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France Braces for New Pension Strikes, Mass Protests

Protesters hold a banner reading "all on strike" during a rally called by French trade unions in Toulouse, southwestern France, on January 19, 2023. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
Protesters hold a banner reading "all on strike" during a rally called by French trade unions in Toulouse, southwestern France, on January 19, 2023. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

France braced for new strikes and mass demonstrations against a deeply unpopular pensions overhaul on Tuesday, a day after lawmakers started debating the contested bill.

President Emmanuel Macron made the reform the heart of his re-election campaign last year, and is determined to implement it despite fierce opposition from the political left and unions, but also the wider public.

Tuesday's protests are the third such nationwide rallies organized since the start of the year, AFP said.

Last week's demonstrations brought out 1.3 million people across the country, according to the police, while unions claimed more than 2.5 million people took part.

Either way, they were the largest such protests in France since 2010.

Trains and the Paris metro are again expected to see "severe disruptions" on Tuesday, operators said, with around one in five flights at Orly airport south of the capital expected to be cancelled.

"We're counting on there being rallies so that the country's elected representatives take into account the opinion of citizens," Philippe Martinez, leader of the hard-left CGT union, told the France 2 broadcaster on Monday.

More marches are planned for Saturday, although unions for rail operator SNCF said they would not call for a strike at the weekend, a holiday getaway date in some regions.

Macron's proposal includes hiking the retirement age from 62 to 64 years old -- still lower than in many European countries -- and increasing the number of years people must make contributions for a full pension.

His ruling party is hoping to pass the bill with the help of allies on the political right, without having to resort to controversial executive powers that dispense with the need for a ballot.

But members of the left-wing opposition are staunchly opposed, and have filed for thousands of amendments.

- 'Reform or bankruptcy' -
Members of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne's government struggled to defend the overhaul as necessary in parliament on Monday, with many in the lower house booing.

As pressure grew, Borne on Sunday offered a key concession, saying people who started work aged 20 or 21 would be allowed to leave work a year earlier.

But the head of the CFDT union, Laurent Berger, dismissed the offer as a mere "band aid" -- not a response to widespread public criticism.

Macron aims to lift the pensions system out of deficit by 2030 by finding around 18 billion euros ($19.5 billion) of annual savings -- mostly from pushing people to work for longer and abolishing some special retirement schemes.

"It's reform or bankruptcy," Public Accounts Minister Gabriel Attal said in parliament on Monday.

But critics say that women will on average have to wait longer for retirement than men, as many have interruptions in their careers from childbearing and care responsibilities.

Opponents also say the reform fails to adequately account for people in physically strenuous jobs like builders and does not deal with companies' reluctance to hire and retain older workers.

Borne claimed the government would pile pressure on companies to end the practice of letting go older employees, which leaves many struggling to find work in their final years before pension age.



Netanyahu Insists Israel Will Not Allow Iran to Acquire Nuclear Weapons

 President Donald Trump, left, greets Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump, left, greets Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
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Netanyahu Insists Israel Will Not Allow Iran to Acquire Nuclear Weapons

 President Donald Trump, left, greets Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
President Donald Trump, left, greets Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Thursday that Israel would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, even as US President Donald Trump attempts to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Tehran.

Netanyahu's remarks were his first on the issue since US-Iran talks began earlier this month, and followed a report that former President Trump had blocked an Israeli plan to strike Iran's nuclear sites.

"As the prime minister has stated many times: Israel will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

Israel and western governments have long accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons capability, an allegation Tehran has consistently denied.

Even before the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack, Netanyahu repeatedly took issue with Iran for its backing of Hamas and other armed groups Israel is currently fighting.

"The prime minister has led countless overt and covert actions in the battle against Iran's nuclear program, without which Iran would today possess a nuclear arsenal," the statement said.

"These actions delayed Iran's nuclear program by nearly a decade."

Netanyahu's statement comes ahead of a second round of Omani-mediated negotiations between US and Iranian delegations set to take place in Rome on Saturday.

Trump's efforts to reach a deal with Iran on its nuclear program through mediation appear in contrast to Netanyahu's long-standing policy to tackle the issue using military action.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu has been leading the global campaign against Iran's nuclear program for over a decade, even when some dismissed the threat and referred to it as a 'political spin' and called the prime minister 'paranoid,'" his office said.

In March, Trump sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei urging talks but warning of possible military action if they failed to produce a deal.

While Netanyahu has been pushing the US to also take firmer action, a report in the New York Times on Wednesday said Trump had scuppered an Israeli plan to strike Iran's nuclear sites.

Trump administration officials revealed to the Times that Israel had sought Washington's assistance to carry out an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities in May.

According to the report, the plan and its possible maneuvers were under consideration for months.

But during Netanyahu's visit to the White House earlier this month, Trump told the Israelis he would not support an attack. The president instead publicly announced the direct talks with Tehran.

On Thursday, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi urged the two sides to secure a deal, saying that time was running out.