French President Emmanuel Macron signed a law raising the state pension age on Saturday, sparking protests.
After months of protests, France’s Constitutional Council authorized the main pension-age raise on Friday, which the government hurried through parliament without a vote.
Protests followed the Constitutional Council’s state pension age increase to 64 from 62.
Parisians burnt trash bins, and Renne villagers burned a police station door on Friday night.
Trade unions encouraged May 1 Labour Day marches despite Constitutional Council permission.
Macron refused Tuesday’s invitation.
The president’s centerpiece pension reform prevents billions of euros in deficit by the decade’s end.
“Never give up, that’s my motto,” he said on Friday before the Constitutional Council verdict, visiting Notre Dame on the anniversary of the Paris cathedral’s fire.
The new law takes effect on Sept. 1.
LFI legislator Francois Ruffin tweeted that the administration disclosed the pension change “like thieves in the night.”
Opposition parties want another citizens’ vote on the reform after Friday’s Constitutional Council rejection.
Trade unions believe taxing the wealthy can support France’s pension system, a key social security program.
Public resistance has developed since the administration, which lacks a majority in parliament, approved the reform without a vote in March using extraordinary constitutional powers.
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