French Protest Against Macron's Pension Reform

More than two million French people took to the streets across the country on Thursday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform plan.

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The largest protest occurred in Paris, with an impressive number of demonstrators setting off shortly after 14:00 local time from the Place de la République. 

Some 30 people were arrested in the capital, where 3 000 police officers were mobilized during the demonstration. It is estimated that more than 10 000 were mobilized throughout the country.

Official figures show that demonstrations exceeded those of 2019 when the President first tried to pass the reform: more than 13 000 demonstrators in Pau, 8 000 in Châteauroux, or even 6 500 in Mulhouse.

Almost three out of ten civil servants (28 percent) were on strike part-time in the state civil service, according to the Ministry of the Civil Service.

In the territorial civil service, the rate of strikers stood at 11.3 percent and in the hospital civil service, it reached 9.9 percent during the first day of the strike against the pension reform plan.

This plan was announced on January 10 by French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. It would delay the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030, and introduce a guaranteed minimum pension.

In this context, the main unions agreed today to continue the protests until the government backs down. In a joint communiqué, the unions told the press: "We are united and determined that this pension reform project be withdrawn. For this reason, the inter-union calls for a new day of demonstrations and an interprofessional strike on January 31."

On January 30, the text of the reform is scheduled to reach the National Assembly for review by a parliamentary commission.