French Democratic Confederation of Labour

As the unions reported, a million people are expected on the streets in French cities.
Workers staged protest marches across France today, May 1, International Labor Day, unhappy that President Emmanuel Macron raised the retirement age and police fired tear gas in Paris and Nantes in the west of the country.

Clashes broke out in Paris next to a Left Bank pub favored by French President Emmanuel Macron, Reuters reported.
The awning of the Caf de la Rotonde was briefly set on fire.

France's Senate voted early yesterday to approve a deeply unpopular reform to the country's pension system, hours after demonstrators took to the streets to oppose the cornerstone policy of President Emmanuel Macron's second term in office.

France's prime minister has ruled out backtracking on a plan to raise the retirement age as unions prepared for another day of mass protests and strikes against the contested reform.

An increase in the minimum retirement age to 64 from the current 62 is part of a flagship reform package pushed by President Emmanuel Macron to ensure the future financing of France's pensions system.

French President Emmanuel Macron's government will try this week to revive his economic reform drive and score a major political victory by launching a pension reform in the face of fierce union opposition, Reuters reported today.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Jan. 11 offered a major concession to unions contesting his government's overhaul of the pension system, in a move aimed at ending strikes which are now in their fifth week.

President Emmanuel Macron's government has begun its drive to overhaul France's rigid labour laws, vowing to "free up the energy of the workforce".

The reforms aim to make it easier for bosses to hire and fire.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said they were ambitious, balanced and fair but it was natural that not everyone would support the changes.