Hundreds of thousands protested on the streets of Paris and other French cities Thursday amid nationwide strikes against plans to raise the retirement age, but President Emmanuel Macron insisted he would press ahead with the proposed pension reforms.
Nationwide strikes severely disrupted transport, schools and other public services across France.
During a news conference at a French-Spanish summit in Barcelona, Spain, Macron said that “we must do that reform” to “save” the pension system.
“We will do it with respect, in a spirit of dialogue but also determination and responsibility,” he added.
He insisted that the plans to reform the country's pension system were “just and responsible.”
Macron also urged people to demonstrate peacefully in France and to avoid any violence or vandalism. As he spoke, riot police pushed back against some protesters throwing projectiles on the sidelines of the largely peaceful Paris march. The incident appeared to quickly get back under control.
French workers would have to work longer before receiving a pension under the new rules — with the nominal retirement age rising from 62 to 64. In a country with an aging population and growing life expectancy where everyone receives a state pension, Macron’s government says the reform is the only way to keep the system solvent.
Unions argue the pension overhaul threatens hard-fought rights, and propose a tax on the wealthy or more payroll contributions from employers to finance the pension system. Polls suggest most French people also oppose the reform.
More than 200 rallies were staged around France on Thursday, including a large one in Paris involving all of France’s major unions.
