The controversial pension reform bill calling for an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 is currently being discussed in the French Senate but was passed over to the Senate before it could be voted on because of disagreements about raising the retirement age
On Tuesday, March 7, the French workers took to the streets across the country denouncing the government’s controversial new pension reforms. Trade unions also participated in a general strike on Tuesday as part of their campaign for a ‘total shutdown’ of the country, while the French Senate is deliberating on the pension reforms bill. The protestors organized massive demonstrations in 200 cities and towns across the country, as well as picketed workplaces and blocked roundabouts in major city centers, as was done at the time of the yellow vest protests. Student-youth groups also organized blockades in 39 universities across France. The strikes have affected transport, schools, the energy sector, industries, municipal services, and government offices, among others.
The mobilization on Tuesday was the seventh major day of action organized against the pension reforms. Protests began on January 19 this year—organized by the coordination of trade unions, leftist parties, and student-youth groups—and millions of people across France have already taken part so far, demanding that the reforms be rolled back. Specifically, protesters have demanded an increase in wages and pensions, and that the retirement age be brought down to 60.
According to L’Humanite, 65% of people in the country support the strikes and protests against the pension reforms proposed by Emmanuel Macron’s government, which call for an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 and also stipulate a mandatory 43 years of service before one is entitled to a full pension or benefits.
The pension reforms bill underwent two weeks of debate in the National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament, but was passed over to the Senate before it could be voted on because of disagreements about raising the retirement age. While trade unions and the left-wing coalition New Ecological and Social People’s Union (NUPES) have continued their opposition to the bill in the streets and in parliament, the Macron-led neo-liberal government expects to pass the bill with the support of legislators from center-right parties.
On Tuesday, leader of the French Communist Party (PCF) Fabien Roussel said: “Today, […] the coordination of the unions calls for France to ‘stop’ against the unfair pension reform that the government wants to impose. The working world hasn’t been this united in a struggle for decades. We can win and push back the government.”
Women’s rights at the heart of the fight over pensions in France
Peoples Health Dispatch
For the first time in the history of France, trade unions have called for a two-day general strike that will extend to March 8, International Working Women’s Day. The general mobilization will begin on Tuesday, March 7, and it is expected to cause widespread protests all over the country. This is the first time since May 1968 that trade unions have issued a joint call for a general strike that will last for more than 24 hours.
While actions for March 8 have grown in strength over the past years, this year’s mobilizations are expected to be particularly powerful. For the first time, it is social movements as a whole, and not the feminist movement alone, that is calling for the strike on International Working Women’s Day. This is an essential element in the reinforcement of the fight for equal social rights, and a spark of hope for the future.
In recent weeks, there has been an unprecedented proliferation of initiatives and assemblies for the strike of March 7-8, as well as meetings to seek to connect them to other ongoing struggles.
Links between women workers’ and health rights
This year, International Working Women’s Day actions in France will be a tribute to all the workers who will be the first to experience the effects of Macron’s pension reform, many of whom are women, whose jobs are invisible, careers cut short, and salaries inadequate.
A joint press release by eight French trade union confederations and the five students’ associations is calling for action on the inequalities that women are still experiencing in the workplace. “Even in 2023, women’s salaries remain on average 25% lower than men’s,” warn the associations in their release.
The income gap between women and men persists after retirement as well, according to the trade unions and student’s associations. “Twice as many women work until 67 years of age, the maximum retirement age, but they receive pensions which are 40% lower than men. Also, 40% of women are forced to retire early and thus receive only partial pension,” they said.
Trade unions and peoples’ movements are calling for a recognition of the link between women’s, workers’, and health rights on March 8. In a joint press release by trade union confederations including Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques (SUD), the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), the National Coordination of Committees for the Defense of Hospitals and Maternity Hospitals, and collectives like Printemps de la Psychiatrie, the movements are calling for unity on March 7 and 8 against the pension reform.
“On March 7 and 8, let us stand united to block the unacceptable pension reform and the policies that are destroying our health and social security systems,” said the associations in their press release.
The pension reform is intrinsically linked to the health system, as social protection cannot be separated from work and employment. Raising the legal retirement age would also lead to an explosion of sick leave, as well as to an increase of payments for social benefits.
On the occasion of March 8, the national collective Our Health in Danger and 25 other organizations, unions, feminist associations, and parties are issuing early calls for actions in the week of April 7, World Health Day.
“Let’s mobilize together to counter harmful policies and carry out our demands for access to health care and social support for all, all over the country, and without financial, geographical, cultural, digital, social, gender, origin or administrative discrimination,” said the collectives in the call.
Whole of society approach to women’s rights
Women’s demands cannot be reduced to the question of wages and retirement alone. A national collective of 31 feminist and social associations, including the People’s Health Movement France, reminds all those who will be joining the protests that: “March 8 is neither Mother’s Day nor Women’s Day—it is the international day of struggle for women’s rights.”
The collective’s broad perception of women’s rights is supported by a number of local associations and 11 left-wing parties, all of which recognize the essential role that women play in society. This is why this year’s March 8 actions will be an occasion to demand the end of social and economic inequalities and the violence which results from them. More simply put, they will be an occasion to remind everyone that, without women, the world stops.
At this point, it is impossible to predict for how long the strike wave in France will continue, and whether it will be victorious. As we approach March 8, however, one thing is certain: equality of men and women is a necessary precondition for any social victory, which cannot be achieved without the involvement of this half of the sky.
INTERNATIONALIST 360° 