French Doctors, Lawyers March Against Macron Pension Reforms (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Thousands of lawyers, doctors and private sector workers took to the streets of Paris on Monday as a parliamentary committee began evaluating the proposed universal pension system on Monday.
The demonstration, which went from Bastille to Opera, was the latest in a wave of protests against Macron's signature reform: streamlining France's complex and expensive pension system that allows some French workers to retire as young as 50.
It has led to over 60 days of strikes and protests, including by transport workers, women's groups, and those in the tourism and energy sectors, which has seen tourist attractions like the Eiffel Tower closed and electricity and gas cut off by workers at energy plants, Euronews reported.
But Macron has stuck firm to his reform, hoping that he can force it through parliament in February despite ongoing industrial action and widespread opposition. Polls suggest that France is divided on the reform, with older workers and young people opposed.
Protesters marched through the French capital chanting while holding banners and flares as police was deployed to the area.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe introduced the proposed pension reform to the cabinet on January 24 January. Debates in the French National Assembly are set to start on February 17 with a first vote scheduled in March.
On December 11 last year, Philippe announced a two-year-extension of the working period necessary to earn a full pension, triggering the ire of workers and trade unions. Macron's proposed 'universal system' would be the biggest change to the country's pension system since WWII.
