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France’s interior ministry estimated 570,000 people to have joined in Thursday’s protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s overhauling of the pension policy – but trade unions place this number at nearly 2 million.
Protests against the Macron-led government’s change in pension policy sparked across multiple cities in the country, including Paris, Lyon and Nantes. Protesters clashed with the police, shops were looted, bank windows were smashed, a restaurant was burnt, and the BlackRock office in Paris was invaded in the course of the protest. Police fired teargas, while protesters used firecrackers during the demonstrations.
Schools, trains, planes were impacted by the protests.
WHAT ARE THE FRENCH PROTESTERS DEMANDING?
The French are demonstrating against the government’s decision to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, effectively meaning that the people will have to work longer to enjoy the full government pension benefits. While the decision will be evaluated on April 14 by the constitutional council for its validity, unions plan to continue mobilising against the reform, which they believe will only benefit the rich.
The Macron administration pushed an executive order in mid-March that not only increased the minimum eligible age from 62 to 64 but also accelerated an increase in the number of years required to qualify for a full pension.
The decision was made by the French government in order to prevent a looming funding deficit.
WHY WAS BLACKROCK STORMED?
The French protesters stormed the building that houses investment firm BlackRock’s office in Paris. The protesters sang ‘On Est La’ (we are here) as they invaded the historical Centorial building near the Grand Boulevards area. They left the building leaving the atrium filled with smoke from the firecrackers.
While BlackRock had no hand in the policy change, they were targeted for their private pension fund activity. A protesting school teacher told Reuters that also has its office in the same building: “The government wants to throw away pensions, it wants to force people to fund their own retirement with private pension funds, but what we know is that only the rich will be able to benefit from such a setup.”
BlackRock was not the only subject of the protesters’ ire. Protestors set on fire the awning of Left Bank brasserie, La Rotonde, that hosted Macron’s celebrations on the evening he led in the first round of votes in the 2017 presidential elections. The eatery has been called one of Macron’s favourite restaurants by the Western media.
Also read: WATCH: French protesters storm investment firm BlackRock’s Paris office
Also read: France chaos: Pension reform protesters invade BlackRock building, set Macron’s favourite restaurants on fire
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