They have burned cars, stopped flights, and blocked transportation throughout the country. Hundreds of them have been arrested, yet 71% of the population supports them. They have cost their nation’s economy 4.5 billion dollars. Who are they? They are union members and youth in France, protesting French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension reforms.
Turmoil in France began when President Sarkozy announced his intention to reform pension laws, raising the legal retirement age from 60 to 62 and the age for full pension access from 65 to 67. In reaction, leaders of some of the largest unions in the country immediately called on their members to strike. Trains stopped running, flights were delayed or cancelled entirely, docks closed, and as many as 25% of gas stations ran out of fuel. Jean-Francois Cope, the leader of Sarkozy’s party in Parliament, said that “most of the country is paralysed by the actions of a handful of extremists”, but more than a handful of people showed up at the protests that followed in the proceeding weeks. On one day, more than 3.5 million people demonstrated in the streets of Paris and other major cities.
President Sarkozy’s hopes for a political comeback spurred by the reforms were soon dashed, as his approval ratings dropped below thirty percent for the first time. However, the pension reforms were recently voted into law by the French Parliament. A visibly pleased Sarkozy told reporters after the vote that, “there is only one winner in this affair, and that’s the social security system and the French people”. However, many French people don’t feel like winners. Unions scheduled more protests on November 4th and 6th.
The French are not the only people affected by pension reforms. Demographics are changing throughout the developed world. Life expectancy is increasing and birth rates are shrinking. As a result, the ranks of retirees are swelling while the number of working adults decreases. All developed countries are facing the challenge of supporting the growing number of retirees alongside diminishing pension plan contributions from working adults. The problem is only aggravated by recent stock market trends which have caused significant losses for pension plans around the world. In Canada, the provincial finance ministers met in Charlottetown last June to discuss a change in the Canada Pension Plan. They will meet again in December to talk about an increase in benefits, almost the exact opposite of the French pension changes. However, federal finance minister Jim Flaherty stated that these “modest” increases would be paid for by raising premiums for high income earners.
This stark contrast between the pension plans of France and Canada have caused some observers to wonder which set of changes is more realistic and which will better serve citizens in the future. An increase in pension benefits will only increase the strain on the adults of tomorrow. On the other hand, in this financially challenging time, many seniors are reporting a decrease in quality of life as their savings disappear due to stock market crashes and financial mismanagement.
Whichever way the Canadian Pension Plan is reformed, it is interesting to consider how Canadians will react to the changes. Will we protest violently like the French, or is our political culture so different that we will accept even radical changes without much protest? According to experts, the French have a unique culture of civic upheaval. Yves Boudot, a retiree who protested the pension reforms in Paris stated that “ever since 1789, there have always been protests, barricades and even violence. And even before 1789, peasants were at it with pitchforks.” More recently, protestors took to the streets in 1995 over another pension reform plan. In contrast, Canadians do not have such an illustrious history of violent political protest.
Nevertheless, Canadian students should pay attention to what is happening in France because, ultimately, we are the ones who will be most affected. We will bear the burden of supporting the growing ranks of retirees, and we must ensure that pension benefits remain generous enough to allow us a comfortable retirement when the time comes. French students have realized this, and universities have mobilized their students to protest the pension reforms. We need to ensure that the pension plans which now support our grandparents will remain healthy enough to support ourselves.
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