After several months of discussions on the revision of the pension system in France, this issue and its related disputes and challenges still go on.
The Macron government's increase in the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 will disproportionately affect low-skilled workers and women. Months of dissent by opponents of the reforms have led to multiple rounds of strikes and protests that have drawn huge crowds in cities, towns and even villages across France. Refinery shutdowns and transport strikes caused travel chaos while a walkout by rubbish collectors kicked up a “great stink” in the streets of Paris. Violence flared in late March when Macron ordered his government to ram the reform through parliament without a vote, using special executive powers. The move sparked several nights of unrest in France. Police crackdowns and controversial rulings by France’s constitutional court helped snuff out the movement, handing Macron a pyrrhic victory since in the weeks that followed he could scarcely take a step outside the Élysée Palace without being greeted by protesters banging pots and pans.