services are almost non-existent and so households are heavily reliant on their cars . As a result they started protesting against this fuel tax and the rising cost of living by wearing Yellow Vests kept in every vehicle . Soon they are joined by people from other sectors and the protests went on for weeks .
In November 2020 there were large protests against the Police Security Bill . This bill not only reduces the accountability of the police but also curtails the rights of the media . Teachers Protests :
Since 2009 , teachers have been participating in almost every protest in France as a result of reduction in real incomes due to the reforms , work burden due to stoppage of new appointments , increase in cost of living , etc . In 2015 , 50 % of all teachers fought against the education bill . During Covid , 30 % of teachers went on strike against the government ’ s negligence and also due to 7 % less pay for new teachers compared to that of developed ( OECD ) countries . Teachers are also participating in large numbers in the fight against the pension reforms . Current Anti-Pension Reform Movements ( 2019-2023 ): Pension reforms were proposed in 2010 itself but seeing the peoples anger they were scrapped for a long time . But in December 2019 , the government brought the Pension Reforms Bill again and more than 8 lakh people protested against it , so again it was put aside temporarily but is being put forward at every occasion . In January 2023 , the government announced that the retirement age will be increased from 62 to 64 along with the pension reforms . 12 lakh people came on the roads against these reforms ; Surveys showed that 70 percent people opposed them . A noconfidence motion was introduced against the government in March . It is difficult to convince the people , but not MPs ! Government managed some MPs from other parties and won the confidence motion . But it became clear that it will not win the vote on the 10 reform in the parliament . So it used a special provision of the constitution , article 49.3 , and brought an ordinance in April for implementing the pension reform . This is the state of democracy in developed countries ! As more and more people become aware that this ‘ democracy ’ is a beautiful cover for the capitalist system of exploitation , the forces of exploitation are waking up . They are making consistent propaganda about the virtues of democracy around the world , and in the name of confronting dictatorships , people are being manipulated towards worshiping exploitative democracies .
Even in our country , many antipeople laws like amendments to the Forest Rights Act have been implemented undemocratically through ordinances without getting them passed through Parliament .
How severe the capitalist vice may be , advocates of democracy are making their voices heard .
After the pension reform is implemented in France millions of people participated in protests on May Day against the reform . Over 100 police men were injured and more than 300 people were arrested . The main unions declared that they will take up more protest programs on June 6 and voice the demands of the working class . Established Unions in France :
In France , since 2007 , people have been protesting against the reforms . However , reforms didn ’ t stop . A major reason for this stand taken by the established unions there . They are watering down the militancy of the people , diverting them towards discussions , ending the protests by agreeing to small concessions , calling for ‘ monster ’ protest rallies instead of strikes and that too on weekends , asking people to convince M . P . s to get their demands fullfilled through parliament . If forces that can teach working class politics in a proper way start working it may not take long for the masses to realize that these unions are working among the people on behalf of the governments .
Pension Story :
Pension is deferred salary . It is that part of the salary received by the workers after retirement for the labor already performed . It is not alms given freely by the government at old age out of generosity . It is the hard earned money the working class generously kept with the government / employer to be returned at a later point of time . So it is completely the responsibility of the government / employer for the payment of pension . But for the past few years , the employers / governments are putting forward the narrative that pension is a generosity / alms given by the government / employer and that they cannot afford that anymore so workers themselves should contribute to the pension . It means that the workers will permanently lose a part of the salary while governments / employers will appropriate that same part .
France ’ s pension reforms also include measures to divide the working class .
1 . Some occupations are defined as “ arduous ” and so workers in these jobs can retire at the normal age . That means the workers in all other occupations have to toil till 64 years .
2 . “ Gift ” of two quarters worth of contributions per child for women , with a maximum limit of 1 year . That means mothers of two children can retire at the age of 63 . This means that decisions on women aspects like having children or not , and the number of children to be given birth are being controlled by the employers .
According to the difficulty of the work , according to the number of children , the workers are segregated and pitted against each other .
In our country , similar discussions are going on among public sector workers with the recent verdict of the Supreme Court on pension . Young workers have to contribute in order to pay the pensions to the old workers , and since there are no recruitments , if young workers opt for this and pay for the retiring employees who will pay
Class Struggle