These Photos And TikToks Show How The French Have Been Protesting The Retirement Age Rising
Eiffel Tower is seen while protesters set fire as clashes take place with riot police in Paris on March 16, 2023.
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Workers in France have been on strike since March 7 and last week saw some of the demonstrations turn violent. The protests are in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform that will raise the age of retirement in France from 62 to 64 years old without a vote.
Protesters set fire in Paris on March 16, 2023.
Police wearing riot gear were deployed to areas in Paris where the protests turned violent and tear gas was used against the striking workers. The clashes led to police banning protests on the Champs-Élysées after protesters burned an effigy of Macron.
Riot police advance during a demonstration in Paris on March 16, 2023.
Pedestrians walk piles of trash bags in Paris's 5th District as trash collectors strike against pension reforms, leaving many streets in the capital piled with waste on March 17, 2023.
The strikes have affected garbage collections, transportation, and schools. For almost two weeks, the sidewalks in Paris have been covered in trash bags as the sanitation workers have been on strike. Garbage collectors' age of retirement will be raised from 57 to 59 years old in the new bill.
Videos of the trash piling up are all over TikTok, and of course people have seen the funny side of garbage overflowing onto the roads. People are making jokes about their exes and Emily in Paris. Some have gone as far as posing in front of the fires from the protests.
@angie.enparis New season #emilyinparis #paris #parispoubelle #poubelles #parisianstyle #lol #lillycollins #ratsparis #parisianlife #manifestations #parismaville #garbage #motd #pov #fy #pt #pourtoi #emily #rats #centreville
♬ Mon Soleil (from "Emily in Paris" Soundtrack) - Ashley Park
A vote of no confidence was held Monday, and Macron’s government survived by just nine votes. Another vote of no confidence is expected, with politicians already expressing skepticism of Macron. “The government is already dead in the eyes of the French, it doesn’t have any legitimacy anymore," hard-left lawmaker Mathilde Panot told the Associated Press.
A demonstrator with the letter "A" written on her forehead, an anarchist symbol, shouts against pension reform in Paris, March 16, 2023.
Protesters seen gathering at Place de la Concorde during the demonstration in Paris, March 16, 2023
Left: French leftist party La France Insoumise parliamentary group President Mathilde Panot and French leftist La France Insoumise party Member of Parliament Daniele Obono demonstrate on Place de la Concorde, in front of the French National Assembly, Paris on March 13, 2023. Right: Protesters hold placards reading "No" and "Macron, take your retirement, not ours" during a demonstration in Rennes, western France, on March 17, 2023.
A demonstrator poses by a burning barricade during a demonstration in Nantes, western France, on March 18, 2023.
A demonstrator throws a projectile amid clashes in Nantes, France, March 16, 2023.
Demonstrators clash with police riot during a demonstration in Nantes, western France, on March 16, 2023.
Small fires burn at the entrance of the town hall of the 4th District of Lyon, which was vandalized during riots in Lyon, France, on March 17, 2023.
A protester sits on a statue with a megaphone in Montpellier, France, on March 16, 2023.
Unionists of the railway sector and protesters stand on the tracks during a demonstration at the train station in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on March 17, 2023.
A unionist throws a tire into bonfire as unionists block access to the Storengy Site, an aquifer gas storage site, to protest against the government's proposed pensions overhaul in Chemery, central France, on March 17, 2023.
Impact marks and shattered glass are seen on the vandalized doors at the entrance of the town hall of the 4th arrondissement (district) of Lyon, France, following riots as part of a demonstration on March 17, 2023
Demonstrators walk past a fire made of burning waste containers during a demonstration in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on March 18, 2023.
Members of the feminist collective "Les Rosies" dance during a demonstration at Place d'Italie in Paris on March 18, 2023.
Riot police intervene in protesters during the demonstration against the French government's pension reform in Paris on March 18, 2023.
A protester wears a mask bearing the image of the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron during the demonstration in Marseille, France, on March 18, 2023.
Dumpsters engulfed in flames block part of a highway during a protest in Rennes, northwest France on March 20, 2023.
A protester throws a rock toward French riot police amid clouds of tear gas during clashes at Place de la Concorde in Paris on March 17, 2023.
