France: Fresh Protests Against Macron's Pension Reform

The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) called on Tuesday over 150,000 citizens to protest in 166 different locations across France against the pension reform proposed by President Emmanuel Macron.

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The CGT Secretary Philippe Martinez said that Sep. 24 rallies were "a nice start" within a campaign of mobilizations which will continue to take place.

According to data from the Paris police prefecture, over 10,000 citizens actively participated in peaceful demonstrations.

In the French capital, transport services were completely paralyzed, for the railway company workers actively participated in the protest with the slogan "No to social regression."

The participation of doctors, nurses and other health workers was notorious during the French protest day.

"We are being denied our basic social rights!" Joelle Erdmann, CGT Mosaique secretary and teacher of children with disabilities, said.

"In the medical and social service fields, we have difficult jobs. Due to our working conditions, we cannot work more hours to obtain more money."

In August, the Macron administration announced the new pension reform as a mechanism for improving the country's macroeconomic prospects in the long term.

Nevertheless, the new pension system, which would start to be implemented in 2025, implies budget cuts and fiscal adjustments which will affect the retirees.

Currently, the French state allocates a large number of financial resources to maintain a complicated retirement system which covers about 40 different pension subsystems.

The sustainability of public social protection is getting even more complicated because the retirement age is one of the lowest compared to other European countries.