Protests in France are gaining strength as several cities are seeing growing numbers of people marching against the Macron government pension reforms. The demonstrations began on January 19 with over 1 million people protesting. In the latest wave of protests, transport workers, teachers and even oil refinery workers participated in the strike disrupting many aspects of everyday life. Political scientist Bruno Palier said, “A lot of French people feel that working is more and more painful. It’s not that they don’t want to work, they don’t want to work in these conditions.” Macron’s government says the reforms are necessary to keep the pension program funded.
