French protests intensify against pension age rise to 64

A 2nd question of French protests and strikes is nether mode against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to rise the status property from 62 to 64.

Eight large unions are taking portion successful the strike, which has disrupted schools, nationalist transport and lipid refineries.

Marches are taking spot crossed France involving hundreds of thousands of people, aft a archetypal time of enactment attracted much than a cardinal people.

Several cities person seen larger crowds than connected 19 January.

The Macron authorities is pushing up with its pension property reforms successful the look of sentiment polls that suggest two-thirds of voters are opposed to the changes, which statesman their transition done the National Assembly adjacent week.

Without a bulk successful parliament, the authorities volition person to trust connected the right-wing Republicans for enactment arsenic overmuch arsenic the ruling parties' ain MPs.

Hours earlier the main protestation began successful the Place d'Italie successful cardinal Paris, thousands of marchers turned retired successful Toulouse, Marseille and Nice successful the south, and Saint Nazaire, Nantes and Rennes successful the west.

A reported 11,000 constabulary were deployed to screen the demonstrations taking spot successful a reported 200 towns and cities.

"Mr Macron is definite to lose," far-left person Jean-Luc Mélenchon told reporters successful Marseille. "Nobody wants his reforms, and the much the days spell by, by the greater the absorption to them."

Karima, 62, held up a placard successful Paris highlighting that the government's plans wounded women acold much than men: "Lots of america already person breached careers and volition person to enactment adjacent longer than men successful bid to person a afloat pension."

There was terrible disruption to transport, with 1 successful 3 high-speed trains moving and lone 2 driverless metro lines operating usually successful Paris. Large crowds were reported connected 1 of the main overground lines successful the capital.

The CGT national said astatine slightest three-quarters of workers had walked retired astatine the large TotalEnergies lipid refineries and substance depots, though the institution said the fig was acold lower.

Power plants reported reduced accumulation aft workers went connected onslaught astatine the main energy institution EDF.

One of the main teachers' unions said immoderate 55% of secondary schoolhouse teachers had walked out, though the authorities said the fig was conscionable implicit a quarter. High schoolhouse pupils staged protests extracurricular immoderate schools and students said they would inhabit Sciences Po assemblage successful Paris successful enactment of the strikers.

"A batch of French radical consciousness that moving is much and much painful. It's not that they don't privation to work, they don't privation to enactment successful these conditions," Sciences Po governmental idiosyncratic Bruno Palier told the BBC.

The authorities has indicated it whitethorn determination immoderate mode connected the item of the betterment but has refused to springiness successful connected the main thrust of the raising the status property by 2 years to 64.

"Any benignant of betterment that is going to inquire radical to enactment longer volition beryllium unpopular, but we've been elected connected this reform," said Christopher Weissberg, an MP successful President Macron's Renaissance party.

At 62, France's status property is little than astir different countries successful Western Europe. Italy and Germany person moved towards raising the authoritative status property to 67, portion Spain's status property is 65 and successful the UK it is 66.

In France, precise fewer workers person idiosyncratic pensions linked to superior investments, but determination are present lone 1.7 workers paying into the shared pension money per idiosyncratic successful retirement.

"We person a cosmopolitan system, and the strategy has to wage for itself. If not, it's weakening and if it's weakening, astatine immoderate point, radical volition suffer their pension," Mr Weissberg warned.

Economist Prof Philippe Aghion said the reforms were indispensable due to the fact that France had a structural shortage of immoderate €13bn ($14bn; £11bn) and raising the status property would besides assistance summation the complaint of employment successful France.

"That volition springiness the authorities credibility to marque immoderate investments that it needs to marque successful schooling, successful the infirmary strategy that it needs to improve, and much concern successful innovation and greenish industrialisation," helium told the BBC.

Additional reporting by Aurore Laborie successful Paris.