French Protesters Hit Streets as Pension Bill Nears Showdown
- Participants total 480,000, down from 1.28 million a week ago
- Bill is ready for vote in parliament; government may bypass it
French unionists slow down traffic in Strasbourg on March 15.
Photographer: Patrick Herzog/AFP/Getty Images
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French unions held strikes and marches against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age, seeking to put pressure on lawmakers as the proposed reform of the pension system was readied for a final vote on Thursday.
The protests coincided with a meeting of a joint committee from both houses of parliament that agreed on a bill that maintained the core principle of raising France’s minimum retirement age to 64 from 62.