Mass strikes across France disrupt transportation and schools as workers protest the government's pension reform plans
Across France on Thursday, labor unions have gone on strike protesting the pension reform that will raise the retirement age for many workers. Transportation services in all of the major cities of France have been entirely shut down, with flights, trains, and schools also disrupted by workers and teachers on strike. Proposed changes to pension policy in France have long been controversial and sparked protests and resistance in previous decades. However, these current widespread strikes also reflect French workers' frustration with persistently high inflation that has caused the cost of living to soar and a decline in real wages.
See "Mass strikes across France disrupt transportation and schools as workers protest the government's pension reform plans", Joseph Ataman, Marguerite Lacroix, and Hanna Ziady , CNN, January 19, 2023