The people vs. capital: French unions continue fight against Macron's pension reforms

Anger has exploded onto the French streets as President Emmanuel Macron vows to push through pension reforms despite popular opinion in a new nationwide strike way. Today we are in a situation where the government governs against its population, since the large majority of the population is opposed to its reform, and in particular to workers because according to the polls, there are more than 9 out of 10 to be proposed to the place of its reform. Yes, this reform is very unpopular. We see it everywhere in France. Indeed, women and French men are all against this strike, for me it seems to me, and that the government is completely alone. It seems to me that it has decided to go, listen to what is cost, like a bulldozer without listening to anyone. On February 7, 2023, the eight largest trade unions in France engaged in the third mass nationwide strike within a month.

It was the first of two national strikes happening during the week, with a second that occurred on February 11. The strikes opposed President Emmanuel Macron's plans, which include raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, and increasing the total amount of years that people need to make social contributions in order to receive a full pension. On February 7, there were mobilizations in over 200 French cities and towns. The General Confederation of Labor, or CGT, claimed close to 2 million people took to the streets, while the French Interior Ministry put the number at over 750,000 people. Today, in the portage, we will find absolutely all the work bodies that exist at the workers. Since the metallurgy to the road transport, the mines, the teachers, all the work bodies that exist are present today. There was a very large mobilization on January 19, the 31st also, which is mobilizations that had never gathered so many people in the streets.

So the mobilization that we know today is historic because there is a very large union unit, where the whole organization calls to mobilize against the reform project of the retirees. We hadn't been able for 25 years to have so many unions that call. We also have the unions of the private sector and of the public. Public transit and railways were disrupted. Fuel refineries slowed production. Electricity production was decreased and airline traffic was affected by the strikes. Today, we see that the population is gathering against the name of this reform.

We also fight against the penalty, since we are of all the criteria of penalty, whether on the ground, at the level of the shift hours, the night work, the charging port, for the BNC, the shift to the shift, the toxicity in the planes. In fact, the penalty is a very important subject in France and the fact of working longer is just not possible. Farmers also joined the mass protest in Paris. We want a statue for the peasants to have a real retreat. Currently, the minister promises 1200 euros, a brutal retreat, but in fact it is for a career where there is a cotization, the entire career duration, a long career without interruption. This concerns very few peasants. There are a lot of peasants who have interrupted careers for maternity leave, where there are peasants with a joint collaboration statue that never cost for the retreat, that have no social status, so no retreat, that have zero euros.

Many school teachers also walked off the job to join the protest. I am Maud Valéja, I am a French teacher in a school in Saint-Saint-Denis and I am a student in education. In education, we were very mobilized in the 31st century. We have two mobilizations this week, so it will probably be divided between the two dates. But there are more and more general meetings and meetings. There is the idea of preparing a big re-education in the weeks to come. And then there are private sectors that are in danger.

We have PSA colleagues, the company of Olnay, who will be in our sector. So the mobilization is very massive. And apart from a sector more mobilized than another, we really notice that all sectors are there. Along with the mass of workers, there was a large youth contingent. Teenagers blocked high schools and at times clashed with riot police. We are the police! We are the police! We are the police! We are the police! Large march in Paris marched from the Opera Garnier to the Place de la Bastille. Attention! Attention! Attention! Attention! Attention! Attention! All major unions were present, along with a vibrant youth contingent, and even retired workers attending in solidarity.

My name is Jimenez. I have been retired for a few years. And I am here to defend my retirement. I have been here for 60 years for my children and my grandchildren. The context is very simple. If the people don't move, it will be 67 or 70 years. It is a retreat! It is ours! We fought to win it! We will fight to keep it! It is a retreat! It is ours! We fought to win it! We will fight to keep it! The nationwide strike was followed by another massive mobilization on February 11.

The next month will prove to be a decisive battle in the ongoing fight to preserve France's social safety net. A general strike involving all major unions is planned for March 7, where unions are threatening to bring France to a standstill. If we are forced to block the economy of the country, we will block it. If we have to, we will block all the transports. The struggle of the contestation would be to reach a general strike, and the country would be completely blocked. Subscribe and donate to the Real News Network. Solidarity forever.

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