Paris Sees Third Anti-Pension Reform Rally In Past Week

Paris Sees Third Anti-Pension Reform Rally in Past Week

A trade union rally against pension reforms announced by the French government began on Thursday in Paris, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the city

PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2019) A trade union rally against pension reforms announced by the French government began on Thursday in Paris, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the city.

This is the third rally in the French capital in the past seven days amid a large-scale nationwide strike that began on December 5. People are protesting against changes to pension laws that could deprive some categories of workers of several privileges and special retirement rules. Specifically, the government is planning to replace a generous pension system with a points-based scheme, a decision that has angered train workers, teachers, police and other public service employees.

The organizers of the rally on Thursday were the largest unions in France, which criticize the provisions of the pension reform submitted by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.

The rally participants, including railway workers and students, began moving around 2:20 p.m. local time (13:20 GMT) from the Place de la Nation along Voltaire Boulevard toward the Place de la Republique, where the demonstration is set to end.

Slogans that read "Paris in struggle," "No discussion of reform, complete abolition" and "Retirement at 60, for strenuous professions at 55" can be seen on the banners stretched out by the protesters, and at the beginning of the column, demonstrators burned fireworks. The rally is being closely watched by police.

Protests are also being held on Thursday in other cities in France, including Marseille, Lyon and Nantes.