PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2023) Trade unions of the Paris public transport operator RATP Group said on Thursday that they would take part in a nationwide strike and demonstration against raising the retirement age on January 31.
"We reaffirm our determination to create a broad protest movement with all the workers of the country. In this regard, we call on all company representatives to express their rejection of this pension counter-reform," the RATP trade unions including CGT, FO, UNSA, and CFE-CGC said in a statement.
Also on Thursday, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced the closure of the city hall on January 31 in solidarity with the strike.
"Yes, the city hall will be closed on January 31 in solidarity with the social movement that will take place throughout France," Hidalgo told the France 2 broadcaster when asked whether the city hall would be closed on January 31.
Last week, France's leading trade unions announced a second nationwide demonstration against the reform would take place January 31. On January 19, over 200 demonstrations were held across the country, with the largest protests taking place in Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, and Nantes. Around 2 million people took part in protest actions in France that day, according to the CGT union.
On January 10, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented a draft pension reform legislation, which the government plans to implement in September 2023. According to Borne's plan, the French government will begin to raise the retirement age in the country by three months per year from September 1, gradually increasing it from the current age of 62 to 64 by 2030.
