French Folks Freak Out as Retirement Age Changes from 62 to 64

The French have kind of been the brunt of jokes for sometime now.  And now many of them seem to be acting like petulant children who refuse to do their math.  Even though people are living longer and they aren’t having children, they still want to retire at 62!  The idea of that being raised to 64 has them flipping cars over in the streets and garbage men going on strike.

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 PARIS (AP) — Protests against French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to force a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote disrupted traffic, garbage collection and university campuses in Paris as opponents of the change maintained their resolve to get the government to back down.

Striking sanitation workers blocked a waste collection plant that is home to Europe’s largest incinerator to underline their determination, and university students walked out of lecture halls to join the strikes. Leaders of the influential CGT union called on people to leave schools, factories, refineries and other work places. 

Several groups, including the yellow vest activists who had mounted formidable protests against Macron’s economic policies during his first term, called on the president’s opponents to march on the parliament at 18:00 (17:00GMT ) on Friday.

Union leaders were not the only ones angry about Macron’s plan to make French citizens work for two more years before becoming eligible to collect full pensions. Opposition parties were expected to start procedures later Friday for a no-confidence vote on the government led by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The vote would likely take place early next week.

https://apnews.com/article/france-retirement-macron-protests-government-noconfidence-vote-a3dddbcb812a452d567c5350a803a3ab