French Senate approves plan to raise retirement age to 64

With 201 votes in favor and 115 votes against, the French Senate approved a plan to increase the retirement age by 2 years, to 64 years old, despite a new wave of protests against the reform that have taken place on a large scale in France since March 7.

The French Senate is scheduled to debate a controversial amendment to the pension reform bill on March 9, which would abolish special benefits for retired managers. The deadline for the body to finalize the bill is the end of March 12.

Meanwhile, French unions want to continue to put pressure with a new round of protests this Saturday to demand that the French President withdraw his pension reform bill.

Pension reform is a controversial issue in France. According to figures from the French General Confederation of Labour (CGT), about 2 million people participated in marches and strikes across France on March 7.

Several labor unions have called on President Emmanuel Macron to reverse his plans to reform pension policies.

President Macron has put pension reform at the heart of his agenda, arguing that raising the retirement age (from 62 to 64) and tightening requirements for workers to receive a full pension are necessary to keep the pension system from running into deficit.

However, unions say the proposed measures are unfair to low-skilled workers who do heavy work and start work early. According to a survey published by pollster Elabe on March 6, nearly two-thirds of respondents support the protests against the reforms.

In most of France's European neighbours, the retirement age for workers is now 65 or older.

Minh Hoa (reported by Vietnam+, VOV)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/thuong-vien-phap-thong-qua-ke-hoach-tang-tuoi-nghi-huu-len-64-a597087.html