Paris Transport Disrupted as Workers Protest Macron Reforms
Paris Transport Disrupted as Workers Protest Macron Reforms
(Bloomberg) -- Paris was hit with its largest transport strike in more than a decade as opposition got underway to a series of reforms planned by President Emmanuel Macron.
The strike was called by unions representing transport workers who fear changes to France’s pension system -- the specifics haven’t yet been worked out -- will strip them of the right to retire earlier than workers in the private sector. More strikes are planned in coming days on other subjects, and unions are also preparing to oppose changes to France’s unemployment-insurance systems.
Macron’s summer was largely taken up with foreign-policy issues, but he’s wary of sparking a repeat of last year’s anti-tax protests by the so-called “Yellow Vests.” Those forced him into the first policy U-turns of his two years in office. Macron’s government has been bending over backward to promise consultations with unions and business organizations before presenting a pension law to parliament in the first half of next year.
Traffic Friday was entirely stopped on 10 Metro lines and running with less than one-third the normal number of trains on four other lines. Two fully automated lines functioned, but the agency that runs Paris’s transport said they risked being overwhelmed with crowds. French media reported 280 kilometers of traffic jams getting into Paris and some suburban rail lines also were barely operational.
Stalled Trains
“The strike turnout shows that it’s a serious subject,” Philippe Martinez, head of the CGT union, said on Franceinfo television Friday. “Nothing justifies that we have to work longer for our pensions. We have one of the best retirement systems in the world.”
While most French must wait until 62 before being able to receive retirement benefits, some Paris transport workers can retire at 51. The average retirement age for a Paris transport worker is 53, according to a report by the Senate, compared with a national average of 63 for all workers. The average pension for a Paris transport worker is 3,700 euros ($4,100) a month, the Senate said, almost three times the national average.
France has 42 different retirement systems, according to a recent government report, and state and private sector workers operate under different regimes. Macron’s government aims to unify as many of those as possible. The past three French presidents have in one way or another sought to do the same, and each backed down in the face of protests.
“Whatever happens, we have to tell French people the truth: Given demographic changes and the link between workers and pensioners, we will have to work for longer,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on TF1 television Thursday.
Unions are planning more strikes and protests on Sept. 20, 24 and 27, covering issues including salaries, climate and retirement age. In addition, what’s left of the Yellow Vests movement have joined with other militant groups to call for major marches on Sept. 21.
While Macron himself doesn’t face voters until 2022, any turbulence would be an unwelcome backdrop as he gears up for local elections in the spring that are essential for developing his three-year-old party.
The summer wasn’t entirely calm, even by French standards: Health workers went on strike, young people protested police violence and farmers vandalized offices of lawmakers who backed a free-trade pact with Canada. Roadblocks and sometimes-violent protests by the Yellow Vests already pressured Macron enough that he announced 15 billion euros of spending increases and tax cuts.
To contact the reporters on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net;William Horobin in Paris at whorobin@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Geraldine Amiel at gamiel@bloomberg.net, Anne Swardson
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