Nearly one million French citizens join May Day protests against pension reform
Misty Severi
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Nearly one million French citizens took to the streets Monday to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s recent pension reform plan.
Violent protests broke out in several key cities, including Paris, Toulouse, Nantes, and Lyon. The protests resulted in 290 arrests, with 108 officers injured. One officer experienced serious burns from a Molotov cocktail, and another was knocked unconscious, according to Agence France-Presse.
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The protests were part of annual May Day demonstrations planned in response to legislation signed into law by Macron last month, which raised the retirement age in France from 62 to 64. The legislation was passed by the country’s legislature without holding a vote due to a provision in the French Constitution.
Macron had campaigned on raising the age of retirement in the most recent election, claiming it was the only way to stop the country from going into a deficit.
Although the protests were mostly peaceful, according to local police, violence did break out occasionally, resulting in protesters smashing shop windows and street furniture and setting fires. Police officials responded to the violent demonstrations with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannon.
French officials put the official protest count at 782,000 protesters. However, unions have estimated a much higher turnout, of around 2.3 million citizens nationwide, according to the New York Times.
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The protests come as the United States considers the future of its own Social Security and retirement payments. A bipartisan group of senators recommended raising the age of retirement in the U.S. from 67 to 70 earlier this year.
If Congress does not make a change to Social Security, the current trust will be exhausted by 2037, according to the Social Security Administration.