Since January 2023, protests against government pension reforms have swept across France, at times paralysing the country. A new nationwide day of protest has been announced for 6 June as the government of Emmanuel Macron remains under sustained pressure to revoke the legislation. SARAH GUEBRE-EGZIABHER reports.
Pensions reform has been on Emmanuel Macron’s agenda ever since his first election in 2017, but it was only after the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement that began late in 2018, the Covid-19 pandemic and finally his re-election in 2022 that the opportune moment to enact it came along. The reform consists of two key measures: an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64, and the lengthening of the contribution period from 42 to 43 years. Contested and critiqued since it was first mentioned, and facing militant resistance, the pensions reform is part and parcel of Macron’s neoliberal political project. Crucially, it comes at a time when the French political landscape is being transformed, with an implosion of the traditional parties of both right and left (Les Républicains and Le Parti Socialiste), the rise of the far right, and widespread mistrust in the French political establishment.
The government presents the reform as a simple matter of logic: people live longer, meaning they receive pensions for longer, which costs a lot of money, and the simple solution is to make people work for longer. This ‘equation’ is of course deeply flawed; it takes no account of the age at which people cease to enjoy good health, which in France is only on average around 64 years, nor low employment rates for older people. 25% of France’s poorest already die before reaching retirement age, a percentage which will only increase with the added two years; in contrast, only 5% of the richest are dead by 62. The real goal is to finance further corporate tax cuts. Macron’s reform lengthens and intensifies the exploitation of the working class and robs them of retirement. It is an act of class war which has not gone unnoticed by any section of the working class.
Macron touts his re-election in 2022 as ‘proof’ that his programme has the backing of the majority of the French people. This is patently untrue: his victory was in large part due to the fact that the large number of voters (over 30%) who supported the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) coalition and other left parties like the Greens or the Parti Communiste Français (PCF) in the first round either transferred their votes to Macron in the second round to keep out the far-right Rassemblement National of Marine le Pen, or simply cast a blank vote. In legislative elections later the same year, Macron’s centre-right Ensemble coalition lost its parliamentary majority, proving how weak his much-vaunted mandate actually is.
Resistance on the streets
While there have been some moves to push back against the pension reform in parliament, resistance has above all taken place on the streets. Since January, millions of workers and students have gone on strike and made their discontent heard on protests. According to the Intersyndicale (inter-union group), up to 3,500,000 people have taken part on each of the days of mass mobilisation. Opposition has been sustained and intensified as Macron undemocratically and illegitimately forced his reform through parliament by using Article 49.3, which allows the executive branch of government to pass laws without a parliamentary vote. This article has been used 11 times since Macron’s re-election in spring 2022 – a sort of presidential dictatorship. Macron has outright refused to concede an inch over this hugely unpopular reform, determined to force it through at any cost.
Along with extinguishing any possibility of debate in parliament, a very aggressive police force has been deployed against workers demonstrating against the reform. Armed to the teeth with truncheons, tear gas, water cannons, grenades, and ‘defensive’ bullet launchers, French police have used excessive force in their repression of protests, injuring hundreds of protesters. These widely-used weapons of state repression can be lethal. On May Day alone more than 500 people were arrested across France. The British state has been complicit in this repression, having arrested French publisher Ernest Mornet on terrorism charges in April because of his political views and ‘anti-government’ activities.
While the pensions reform is front and centre of the protests, a variety of issues have also been brought up. The reform has been a springboard to discuss the nature of the French state, climate change, neoliberalism and more. Far from being only seasoned strikers and protesters, the body of demonstrators is made up of a heterogeneous mix of trade unionists, students, elected officials, leftist groups of different varieties and most importantly workers, many of whom had not previously been politically active. The movement against the reform is an exceptional opportunity to raise consciousness and organise masses of workers, who have rightly become disillusioned with the liberal democracy of the French Fifth Republic.
Dangers ahead
After months of protest, what lies ahead? Currently, trade unions occupy the leadership of the movement. There is a real danger of them reaching a compromise with the government, and a return ‘back to normalcy’, undermining the efforts of all those who have dedicated time and energy to resisting the measure. Such a move would also allow the far-right to opportunistically present itself as a desirable alternative in any future election. Marine Le Pen – who was runner-up to Macron in the presidential election – has previously argued for reducing the retirement age to 60 for everyone. It is crucial that those on the left continue to sustain pressure on the government. New strike days have been announced, with the next mass mobilisation on 6 June. Organisation and mobilisation need to be intensified and channelled into building a socialist movement.
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No 294, June/July 2023
