1: french unions are staging a day of mass strikes and protests against president macron’s plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. prime minister ãlisabeth borne announced that from 2027, citizens would need 43 years of work to qualify for a full pension. the country’s unions and left-wing and far-right oppositions in the national assembly have declared their dissatisfaction with the proposal.
paragraph 2: the parliamentary process is expected to take several weeks, and further days of action are likely in the days ahead. this is the seventh french pension reform since president franã§ois mitterrand cut the retirement age to 60 in 1982, with the most recent being part of macron’s re-election manifesto last year.
paragraph 3: according to an ifop poll, 68% of the public are voicing their opposition to the proposed reform. macron has warned against the spread of “fake news” and playing on people’s fears. the opposition has argued that there is no urgency to act, as the system is not technically in deficit at the moment. they have also argued that the brunt of the reform will be borne by the poorest, who tend to start work earlier in life.
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