In 2010, France has experienced an intense social struggle. The triggering factor was the pension reform which the government of Prime Minister François Fillon argued was necessary to “save the pension system”. The French system relies on compulsory basic and supplementary state pension schemes financed mainly by contributions (proportional to wages) and taxes decided at national level. According to the government, because of the growing number of retired people and an ageing population, it is necessary to raise the legal retirement age from 60 to 62 (and from 65 to 67 for a full pension) in order to encourage people to work longer. But the trade unions are very sceptical about this reasoning, for the average age at which workers cease activity is 58.8 years. And 60% of workers are not in employment when they claim their pension rights: they are either unemployed, or invalid. For example, “25% of nurses and 40% of auxiliary nurses are invalid when they retire” (Lambert 2010). In the first part of this article, the terms of the debate will be analysed, and in the second part the struggle around the pension reform will be discussed.
