1 million march in France, unions call for more pension protests during King Charles III visit
PBS NewsHourNov 29, 2022
France Pension Protests: Bordeaux City Hall Set on Fire
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Image copyright: Shutterstock [via The Guardian]
The Facts
In France's southwest city of Bordeaux, the front door of the town hall was set on fire as nationwide protests over pension reforms gripped the country on Thursday.
Trade unions claimed that 3.5M Frenchmen took to the streets, including a record 800K in Paris where clashes erupted late into the night. However, authorities suggested the figure was far lower at 1.1M, claiming that no more than 120K people marched through Paris.
The Spin
Narrative A
French citizens have to embrace pension reforms. With longer life expectancies and an aging population, the cost to the state's coffers has become unsustainable. France needs to get with the times and raise the pension age like all other European countries have done.
Narrative B
In spite of those that say the numbers are unsustainable, the deficit for future years is not as dramatic as Macron and his supporters make it out to be. Besides, there are other ways of raising the necessary money outside of raising the pension age — including reversing the tax cuts for businesses that Macron's government itself has implemented.
