Protests and strikes against unpopular pension reforms swept France on Tuesday, with several thousand protesters and the Eiffel Tower’s closure. Police tightened security amid government warnings that radical protesters intended to “destroy, injure and kill”.Fears that violence could disrupt large protests sparked what Home Secretary Gérald Darmanin described as an unprecedented deployment of 13,000 officers, nearly half of whom were concentrated in the French capital. After months of upheaval, a recovery from the storm of protest unleashed by President Emmanuel Macron’s changes to France’s pension system seemed more distant than ever. Despite renewed calls from the governing unions to end a hard-fought campaign to raise France’s statutory retirement age from 62 to 64, Macron appears to have complied.
The French leader had previously used special constitutional powers to push reforms through the legislature without allowing them to vote. His decision this month has further fueled the protest movement. Since then, violence has erupted, and thousands of tons of stinking rubbish have piled up on the streets of Paris following a garbage collectors’ strike. The Eiffel Tower website announced that strikers had closed the world-famous tourist attraction. ” Everyone is getting angry,” said Clement Saild, a passenger on the train at Gare de Lyon in Paris, where protesters temporarily attacked and blocked platforms on Tuesday. His government says that without reform, the French pension system will run into deficits in many rich countries due to falling birth rates and longer life expectancies. Macron’s opponents argue that additional pension funds could come from other sources without requiring workers to retire later.
The protests began peacefully on Tuesday morning, with large crowds in many cities. But Police said they had been pelted with objects and responded with tear gas to disperse protesters in the western city of Nantes and are preparing for violence elsewhere. The interior minister said more than 1,000 “radical” troublemakers, including some foreigners, could join the demonstrations in Paris and other cities.“They come to destroy, wound and kill policemen and gendarmes. Your goals have nothing to do with pension reform. Their goal is to destabilize our republican institutions and to sow blood and fire in France,” said the minister, describing the actions of the Police. Some protesters, human rights activists, and political opponents of Macron say the Police used excessive force against the protesters. Police supervision is investigating several allegations of misconduct by officers.
The striking railway workers in front of the Gare de Lyon are demonstrating behind a banner that reads: “Police are mutilating. We don’t forgive!”Lucie Henry, a 36-year-old protester, said Macron “set everyone on fire” by bypassing Parliament to pass his reform.”The fuel in the fire is fueled by government behavior, especially police violence,” he said. Macron’s opponents are urging him to calm down by retreating. Union leader Laurent Berger called on Tuesday for the implementation of the pension reform to be stopped and for arbitration. If we want to avoid tensions – and I want to avoid them – the unions offer a gesture of consolation,” he said.”We have to take it back.”