The French Have A Good Answer To Conservative Plans To Raise The Retirement Age-- General Strikes

Last night, Le Monde reported that over a million people took to the streets to protest the kind of pension “reform” that the Republicans plan for the U.S.— and that some conservative Democrats agree with. That would be raising the retirement age. Will American workers protest as robustly as French workers are? Public transportation was halted and electricity production was cut.

Macron— a very much disliked lesser-of-two-evils politician— is trying to push through a “deeply unpopular pension overhaul [that] would raise the retirement age for most people to 64 from 62 and increase the years of contributions required for a full pension. France's trade unions immediately called for a mass mobilization, showing a united front for the first time in 12 years when the retirement age was hiked to 62 from 60. France's Interior Ministry said it had counted 1.12 million demonstrators in France as a whole including 80,000 in Paris. The hardline CGT union said two million people had marched throughout the country, and 400,000 in Paris.”

Around the Bastille area of Paris, radical demonstrators hurled bottles, bins and smoke grenades at police who responded with tear gas and charged to disperse the troublemakers.

Some 30 people were arrested, mostly members of a 1,000-strong radical group called "Black Blocs" who wore masks, helmets and black clothes, police said, adding they had managed to split off the group from the main demonstration. No major violent incidents were reported elsewhere in France.

During a news conference on Thursday at a French-Spanish summit in Barcelona, Macron said: "We must do that reform." "We will do it with respect, in a spirit of dialogue but also determination and responsibility."

"I trust that the organizers of these demonstrations will ensure these legitimate expressions of opposition can take place without too many inconveniences for our fellow citizens and obviously without excesses, violence or destruction," Macron said.

…The rate of strikers reached 46.3% of workers at the state-owned national rail company SNCF.

The Education Ministry said 42.35% of teachers in primary education were striking, and 34.66% in secondary education. Estimates from teachers' unions placed those numbers between 65 and 70%.

…Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has defended the reform, still to be debated in parliament, as a way to ensure more "justice" for retirees. "Four out of 10 French people, the most fragile, those of the most modest means, those who have tough jobs, will be able to retire before 64 years old," she told parliament.

Republican politicians in general want to raise the retirement age in the U.S. to 70, but right now only extremely reactionary GOP members of Congress are mentioning it publicly— and only the ones who represent deep red districts that are considered safe enough to take unpopular positions. Rick Allen (R-GA), a multimillionaire is one of the loudest advocates for making people work longer. “Under a plan developed by the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservatives in the House, senior citizens would face a five-year delay to claim Medicare, the government health care program for seniors that currently allows people to access the program when they turn 65. And the retirement age for Social Security would also increase to 70, compared with today's full retirement age of between 66 and 67 years old… Because of this, boosting the age to claim benefits would likely increase hardship and poverty for older Americans, especially for low-income, rural Americans and those who have to stop working due to health issues or to take care of family members, experts say.”

Notably, even a majority of registered Republicans want to see Congress raise the debt ceiling without any of the draconian “reforms” Republicans are pushing.