INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
France is preparing for a series of strikes and demonstrations against the pension reform project in the country.Unions called for strikes
and demonstrations for next Thursday (19 )
The federal government introduced an information campaign and interviews to try to convince public opinion.For now, the public sector is
expected to have, on Thursday, stoppages in trains, transportation in the Paris region, education (including universities), the authorities
and penitentiaries.Emmanuel Macron, President of France, is expected to be taking a trip on the day of the demonstrations (Photo web
recreation)In the private sector, there need to be strikes in the energy sector, among industrial air travel crews and other smaller sized
The dispute in the National Assembly will be based on mobilization and strikes
The battle will be combated initially in business and in the streets , alerted the general secretary of the CGT union, Philippe Martinez, in
an interview with state tv France 3
THE STRIKERS GOAL IS TO PARALYZE THE COUNTRY The goal of the unions is to disable the country as in the series of significant strikes in
1995 versus Prime Minister Alain Juppés strategy (under the presidency of the conservative Jacques Chirac) for pension reform, consisting
of special regimes in public sector companies.On December 12 of that year, two million people opposed across the nation, according to unions
(one million according to police), and just three days later the government withdrew the bill
We can do even better than then, Philippe Martinez stated optimistically in remarks last Friday.The Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt,
alerted this Sunday (15) that the unions have the right to call strikes and presentations, however not to obstruct the country
WHAT DOES THE RENOVATION PLAN INCLUDE?The main points of the governments plan are to increase the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years
by 2030 and to anticipate to 2027 the increase from 42 to 43 years of contribution to be able to take pleasure in a complete retirement (up
until now visualized for 2035)
Dussopt, in an interview with public broadcaster France Inter , recalled that the reform takes into consideration those who began working
Those who began their professional professions at 18 will be able to retire at 60 with their complete pension: They wont work more than
those who began later on , he said.Opposition to the task reaches 68% of the French population, according to an Ifop survey published this
Sunday by the Journal Du Dimanche
The number is higher (71%) amongst young people, the working classes and the unemployed.These numbers can be explained by the truth that the
governments speech about saving the pension system does not work , commented Frédéric Dabi, general director of viewpoint at Ifop, one of
the primary research study institutes in the country.Even so, Dabi perceives a weaker desire to mobilize in the streets, because the
federal government appears to have actually secured the votes in both chambers of Parliament thanks to the assistance of the conservative
party The Republicans, which is taken for granted.However, the government introduced a significant campaign of action and media presence to
attempt to convince the population.On Thursday, the day of mobilizations, French President Emmanuel Macron will be in Barcelona for the
Spain-France Summit with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez.With information from EFE/Gazeta do Povo