Macron rejects fresh French pension bill demand as protests mount

Labour unions urged the president to use outside mediators to end the crisis, but the government said it will not review the bill making people work an extra two years to 64

Many cities saw more protests and clashes as strikes in the transport, aviation and energy sectors continued to disrupt parts of public infrastructure

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Railway workers take part in a demonstration against government pension reform in Paris on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:44pm, 28 Mar 2023Updated: 9:47pm, 28 Mar 2023

President Emmanuel Macron’s government on Tuesday rejected a new demand by unions to rethink a deeply unpopular pension bill, infuriating labour leaders who said the government must find a way out of the crisis.

Meanwhile, as protesters across France staged generally peaceful marches on a tenth nationwide day of strikes and protests, clashes broke out in some areas.

In the western city of Nantes, the boarded-up front of a BNP Paribas bank branch was set on fire. Also in western France, protesters blocked the Rennes ring road and set an abandoned car on fire. In the Normandy city of Rouen, authorities confirmed clashes had occurred.

“We have proposed a way out … and it’s intolerable that we are being stonewalled again,” the head of the CFDT union, Laurent Berger, told reporters at the start of a rally in Paris.

He and other union leaders had again urged the government to suspend the bill, this time suggesting the use of outside mediators, as the government and unions remain far apart.

But hours later, government spokesman Oliver Veran rejected the idea, saying the cabinet was willing to discuss other policy changes, but not review the pension bill.