Massive Protests, Strikes Continue as Opposition Digs In Against French Pension Reform

Adeline Lefebvre was scrunched up next to a newsstand as a swelling crowd of demonstrators pushed past her at the Place de la Bastille — the iconic Paris square that earned its fame from French Revolution days.

Rock music blared and the gigantic balloons of the leftist CGT trade union bobbed in the air on this ninth day of nationwide strikes and protests against French President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular pension reform.

Lefebvre, 58, a secretary who began working at 17, has been at every one.

“Macron needs to understand things aren’t working out,” she said of the widespread opposition to his plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. “We need to start over. But he’s in total denial.”

A day after Macron defiantly defended his reform on public TV — after his government narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in the national assembly — public anger shows no sign of abating.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in the capital and elsewhere in the country. Unions calculated roughly 3.5 million nationwide; France’s Interior Ministry put the number at just over 1 million.

Hundreds were arrested after clashes with police.

“Macron doesn’t listen, he acts like a king,” protesters in Lyon chanted.

‘I’m prepared to be unpopular’

In Paris, people brandished posters reading “Macron the scornful of the Republic” — a play on words in French referring to his presidency.

“Maybe we have a chance to stop this law” by protesting, said Manon Chauvigny, who works with disabled people.

“Otherwise,” her partner warned, “it’s the revolution.”

Interviewed Wednesday by two top news stations, Macron said he hoped the reform would become law by year’s end.

“This reform is necessary. It does not make me happy. I would have preferred not to do it,” he said, arguing that the pension system would go bankrupt if nothing was done. “I’m prepared to be unpopular.”

Instead of calming an angry nation, his remarks appear to have further incensed it. A poll published Thursday on France’s BFMTV channel found seven in 10 respondents found his arguments unconvincing. More than 60% believe Macron’s remarks will spark even greater anger on the streets.

“There’s money in France” to pay for the pension reform, said retired insurance worker Jean-Francois Vilain, who joined the Paris protest sporting the CGT union logo. “Only it’s not in the hands of working people. We see financial companies making billions in profits, and they share very little of it.”

Sporting a bright red vest, construction worker Djcounda Traore joined colleagues to march in the capital.

“Working until 64 years isn’t easy in our profession,” he said. “Maybe if everyone protests, we’ll win.”

But protester Lefebvre was less optimistic.

“I’d like to say we’ll win,” she said. “But I’m afraid that we won’t.”

Garbage sits on sidewalks

Trains and metros were seriously disrupted Thursday. Fuel refinery blockages in some parts of the country have left gas stations dry and sparked fears of potential shortages at Paris airports.

While some garbage service has resumed in the French capital, rolling strikes leave many bags festering on sidewalks.

Reports also suggest the unrest in France may disrupt the upcoming visit of Britain’s King Charles to France in his first foreign trip as monarch.

French union leaders and political opponents have slammed Macron’s response, describing him as disdainful and failing to listen to the streets.

The president’s remarks Wednesday show “scorn toward the millions of people who have protested,” said CGT union leader Philippe Martinez.

Macron “reacts as if the crisis was already behind him,” France’s influential Le Monde newspaper wrote in an editorial Wednesday.

“For the country to advance, a president of the Republic needs to know how to cobble a consensus,” it added. “Right now, we’re nowhere near there.”