France Travel: 19 January Strikes Could Be The Biggest In Decades

France’s notorious yellow vest protesters are back—but this time the whole country appears to be behind them, and any upcoming travel plans could be seriously impacted.

The French might have a reputation for going on strike, but for the first time in 12 years, everyone is proposing to strike next Thursday 19 January, against President Macron’s plan to reform the pension system—meaning any travel you had planned will be heavily affected and everything from schools, petrol stations and trains will be closed or out of service.

Before Covid, the weekly Saturday protests across France against President Macron’s proposed pension reform and the huge disparity in wealth across the country were starting to seem like a regular part of the landscape. Then the pandemic hit, the lockdowns arrived and the government put the reform on hold.

However, the pension reform was a key part of President Macron’s manifesto when he was elected to power the first time in 2017, and in April 2022 he was re-elected for another 5 years on a similar manifesto.

So this week, the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tentatively re-introduced the new reform to the French government, asking workers to retire one or two years later, depending on when they were born—but the plan is to eventually raise the mandatory retirement rate to 64 by 2030 (French residents can currently start claiming their pension at 62).

In response, unions across all walks of life are planning to walk out, including rail workers, teachers, public servants, truck drivers, bank staff, music venue workers, Paris transport workers, theatre workers and anyone in an oil refinery. Workers in other sectors have yet to announce their intentions.

At the moment, there’s a pension deficit in France and the proposed changes are expected to save the government €17.7 ($19) billion a year by 2030. The current system is incredibly complicated and if continued, the government claims it would require a rise in taxes to keep paying out the same amounts to people at the same retirement age.

France is not alone. Most OECD countries are likely to increase mandatory retirement ages in the future, as people live longer and governments need to balance their books.

At the moment, countries across the EU have a current average retirement age of 64.3 years for men and 63.5 years for women. In France, the OECD has the current average retirement age at 64.5 years for both men and women, meaning that the government plans are not that far off the current situation.

And whilst around 50% of French people understand the need for some sort of pension reform, a recent survey suggested that 80% of the population were against working until the age of 64. Part of the issue is that President Macron is often seen as out of touch with the people and like every other European country at present, the French are suffering a cost of living crisis.

As a result, both the right and the left are pushing back and for the first time in 12 years there is consensus on the day to strike and protest—Thursday 19 January. Whilst it is common for the French unions to strike in protest against pay or pensions for individual sectors, it is rare to see such uniformly organised protests planned for the same day.

What’s more, most unions have filed notices to continue striking over the weeks to come. Across the country, people have already started to queue for petrol to make sure they have enough to last through next week.

Anyone planning to hire cars or take the train should rethink travel plans accordingly.