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Gallery|Protests

Tens of thousands march across France against pension reform

Protests and strikes are held nearly two weeks after more than one million people protested against raising the retirement age.

Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
Protesters hold trade union flags and a banner reading, "Pensions: No to the Macron reform," during a demonstration in Mende in southern France against changes that the government wants to make to the pension system. [Pascal Guyot/AFP]
Published On 31 Jan 202331 Jan 2023
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Tens of thousands of people are protesting across France for a second time this month against a government proposal to raise the retirement age.

Huge crowds marched through cities to denounce a reform that would raise the retirement age by two years to 64 and poses a test of President Emmanuel Macron’s ability to push through his policies.

Striking workers disrupted French refinery deliveries, public transport and schools on Tuesday. The leading CGT union said on Tuesday that half a million people were protesting in Paris alone.

Labour unions and left-wing legislators in parliament are counting on protesters to turn out in large numbers to strengthen their efforts to kill the bill after Macron lost his working majority in parliament.

A first round of strikes and protests on January 19 brought out an estimated one million to two million demonstrators, including tens of thousands in Paris.

The government has mobilised 11,000 officers to handle the protests.

Positions are hardening on both sides as lawmakers begin locking horns in parliament over the government’s retirement reform bill.

On Monday, Macron described the reform as “essential”. His prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, insisted at the weekend that raising the retirement age to 64 is “no longer negotiable”.

Opinion polls show a substantial majority of the French oppose the reform, but Macron intends to stand his ground.

Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
France braces for major transport blockages on January 31, 2023, the second day of strikes and protests this month against government efforts to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. [Pascal Guyot/AFP]
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Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
A cyclist rides with a banner reading, "Who sows the misery reaps the anger," during a demonstration in Nantes. [Loic Venance/AFP]
Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
French President Emmanuel Macron faces a new wave of anger as his plan to reform pensions unleashes nationwide strikes and protests. [Jean-Francois Monier/AFP]
Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
A woman holds a placard quoting the French junior minister for relations with parliament, Franck Riester, that "women are 'a little' penalised" during a protest in Marseille. [Nicloas Tucat/AFP]
Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
Marching behind banners reading, "No to the reform" and "We won't give up," many protesters say they will take to the streets as often as needed for the government to back down. [Pascal Guyot/AFP]
Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
Pension reform protesters hold placards reading, from left: 'Elizabeth you passed the milestone,' 'Retirement before arthritis,' 'Reform retirement, retreat from the reform' and 'Yes, we cane.' [Jean-Francois Monier/AFP]
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Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
The nationwide strikes and protests like this one in Laval in western France cause widespread disruptions in transportation, at schools and in other public services. [Jean-Francois Monier/AFP]
Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
Protesters march outside Paris on what veteran left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon predicts will be “a historic day" of protests and a defeat for Macron. [Pascal Guyot/AFP]
Protests hit France in round 2 of pension battle
Unions said their initial counts from protests across the country on January 31, 2023, show a bigger turnout than demonstrations nearly two weeks earlier. [Christophe Simon/AFP]
Railways are deserted at the Strasbourg train station, in Strasbour
The Strasbourg train station in eastern France is deserted on a day of strikes that saw one in three high-speed TGV trains operating and even fewer local and regional trains. Services on the Paris metro were thrown into disarray. [Jean Francois Badias/AP]


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