Macron’s pension plan advances despite strikes across France

PARIS (AP):

Thousands of people angered over President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age joined a national strike on Wednesday as a committee of lawmakers advanced the proposal.

It remains to be seen whether Macron can command a parliamentary majority for his plan to raise the age from 62 to 64 so that workers can pay more money into the system. If not, he could risk imposing the unpopular changes unilaterally.

The plan also would deny a full pension to anyone who retires at 64 without having worked for 43 years – short of that, they’d have to wait until 67.

Macron has promoted the changes as central to his vision for making the French economy more competitive. Unions remained combative late Wednesday, calling on lawmakers to vote against the plan and denouncing the government’s legal shortcuts to move the bill forward as a dangerous “denial of democracy”.

Economic challenges have prompted widespread unrest across Western Europe. In Britain on Wednesday, teachers, junior doctors and public transport staff were striking for higher wages to match rising prices. And Spain’s left-wing government joined with labour unions to announce a “historic” deal to save its pension system by raising social security costs for higher wage earners.