Fri Mar 31, 2023 – 1:47 pm EDT
(LifeSiteNews) – French president Emmanuel Macron’s plan to reform France’s pension system that would increase retirement age from 62 to 64 and at the same time augment the number of working years from 41 to 43 to obtain a full pension has sparked a series of strikes and demonstrations since January 19. To date, they were not successful in pressing the government to retract the bill that was forced through parliament without a vote. As was the case during the “gilet jaune” (“yellow vests”) uprising in 2018-2019, protests were targeted by violent police repression against ordinary citizens, while they were also used by extreme left-wing provocateurs adding fuel to the fire.
Fires have been a signature mark of the more recent of the ten days of nationwide demonstrations since January, with angry crowds in Paris, in particular, where a garbage collectors’ strike has led to piles of rubbish accumulating on sidewalks since the second week of March. With up to 10,000 tons of waste at a single time waiting to be removed in the arrondissements where town halls directly employ garbage collectors rather than outsourcing, there was plenty
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