Macron's pension plan advances despite strikes across France
French people hoping to preserve their retirement benefits are marching in the streets of Paris and hundreds of other cities
PARIS (AP) — Thousands of people angered over President Emmanuel Macron's plan to raise the retirement age joined a national strike on Wednesday as a committee of lawmakers advanced the proposal.
It remains to be seen whether Macron can command a parliamentary majority for his plan to raise the age from 62 to 64 so that workers can pay more money into the system. If not, he could risk imposing the unpopular changes unilaterally.
The plan also would deny a full pension to anyone who retires at 64 without having worked for 43 years — short of that, they'd have to wait until 67.
Macron has promoted the changes as central to his vision for making the French economy more competitive. Unions remained combative late Wednesday, calling on lawmakers to vote against the plan and denouncing the government’s legal shortcuts to move the bill forward as a dangerous “denial of democracy.”
