Street demonstrations have been held across France as schools and transport services were disrupted by the first major strike since Emmanuel Macron won re-election as president in April.
Primary school teachers stopped work on Thursday, as did train and bus drivers on certain regional services and nuclear power industry workers, in what was seen as a test for trade unions’ ability to mobilise support.
Workers marched in cities across France as unions pushed for salary increases to address the impact of inflation and rising prices.
Unions also called for the scrapping of Macron’s plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65 progressively over several years. The president’s insistence on pushing through changes to the pensions system – one of his main re-election campaign pledges – remains broadly unpopular in polling. It has mobilised leftwing trade unions as well as opposition parties on the left and far right who have threatened to block the government’s path.
Ministers said on Thursday that draft legislation on pensions changes would be ready by Christmas, with a consultation process to begin next week. But Macron’s centrist party lost its parliament majority in June elections, which has seriously undermined its ability to push through major legislative changes such as the pensions plan.
The labour minister, Olivier Dussopt, said he could not rule out Macron dissolving parliament if opposition parties teamed up to block the government. This would immediately trigger fresh parliament elections. The government is leaning on rightwing politicians from the Les Républicains party to try to gain their support for its pension measures in order to get the bill through.
“We are against pushing back the age of retirement because we consider it an aberration when there are so many unemployed people in this country,” Philippe Martinez, the head of the leftwing CGT union, told BFM television. He added: “Wages must be increased as there is a cost of living problem in this country.”
Mathilde Panot, the parliamentary leader of the left’s France Unbowed party, tweeted ahead of the strikes: “If the president insists on declaring a social war on the people, we will respond with all the means at our disposal.”
The government argues that Macron has approved wage increases for civil servants and teachers and put in place one of Europe’s most generous anti-inflation safety nets that has capped energy prices for households and held down inflation. But unions said wages were still being eroded by inflation and more needed to be done. The promised salary increases for teachers are not expected until late next year, with confusion surrounding which teachers would benefit and by how much.
“We can really see that teachers are fed up with their salaries … if on top of that, there’s the issue of pensions, it risks creating some sparks,” said Guislaine David from the Snuipp-FSU union.
About one in 10 schools in Paris are expected to shut for the day on Thursday, while 300 will close in the southern Bouches-du-Rhone area which includes Marseille.
