This happened against the background of Elizabeth Bourne's statements about the pension reform, the protests are mostly joined by left-wing parties.
Eight major French unions have announced Tuesday, January 10, the first day of strikes and demonstrations to protest the government's plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years old. The next action is planned for January 19, informs FranceInfo.
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This step should “start a strong mobilization” of the population for reform, confirmed in a joint press release the eight unions (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, Solidaires, FSU), whose leaders met at the Labor Exchange in Paris on Tuesday evening.
Lefts urged to join unions
For Philippe Martínez, head of the CGT, this day “is the starting point, not the end” of the opposition to the reform. “This is the beginning of mobilization so that the reform does not enter into force,” explained Laurent Berger, general secretary of the CFDT, which calls on political parties to “mobilize on January 19.”
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Gathering in Paris for a joint meeting, left-wing parties announced Tuesday night that they were joining the protests.
The other day, Le Parisien media shared footage of demonstrations against the pension reform, inflation and rising energy prices that took place in the country.
The retirement age will be gradually increased to 2030
Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne announced on Tuesday that the statutory retirement age would be pushed back to 64 by 2030 to “ensure the system is balanced in 2030” by accelerating the increase in contribution periods. Trade unions have long warned that they will oppose any change in the retirement age to 64-65 years.
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