French President Emmanuel Macron faced widespread protests on Labour Day on Monday as he battles to get past a highly unpopular retirement age rise that has sparked social discontent.
After confronting labor unions and multi-sector strikes and raising the retirement age to 64, Macron’s popularity fell to near-record lows amid the “Yellow Vest” crisis.
Macron has been booed, pot-banged, and heckled on walkabouts by residents who see him as unsympathetic to their everyday struggles.
Unions anticipate over 1 million people march on Monday.
“This May 1st will be a milestone,” declared Sophie Binet, leader of the hard-left CGT union. “It will say that we will not move on until this (pension) reform is withdrawn.”
The reformist CFDT trade union’s Laurent Berger claimed Macron’s government ignored one of the most significant social movements in decades. On Sunday, he maintained that negotiations with the government will continue.
Macron said the overhaul is required to fund one of the industrialized world’s most generous pension systems.
French men retire longer than those in other OECD nations and receive a greater pension as a percentage of pre-retirement earnings.
Trade unions think the money can be found elsewhere.
Due to a lack of cross-party support, Macron’s minority government rammed the pension legislation through without a vote.
A stiffening political opposition might complicate his reform plan, including an employment law forcing minimum aid recipients to work or train for 15-20 hours weekly.
On Friday, Fitch lowered France’s sovereign credit rating to ‘AA-,’ citing political impasse and societal discontent as dangers to Macron’s plan.
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