Peter Whiteford, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Lifting Australia’s retirement age happened with little protest. But it hits some more than others: especially Indigenous men and women, and tens of thousands of older people pushed onto JobSeeker.
A protestor looks on after being allegedly injured by anti-riot police during a demonstration against pension reform in Toulouse, southern France, on March 28, 2023.
AFP
Jacques de Maillard, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) – Université Paris-Saclay and Aurélien Restelli, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) – Université Paris-Saclay
The brutal methods employed by the French police to maintain order during protests contrast with those of its European neighbours.
In the midst of the pension reform crisis, the constant weakening of institutions and mediation bodies raises questions about Emmanuel Macron’s exercise of power.
Far from an exception, 16 March marked the 100th time under the Fifth Republic that France’s president chose to use a special constitutional measure to force through unpopular measures.
Young people walk behind a banner during a demonstration in Paris against the reform of the pension system.
Bertrand Guay/AFP
The adoption of France’s pension-reform law without a vote of the National Assembly puts greater demands on workers for the benefit of those who have already retired.
A demonstrator holds a placard reading “Macron, no no no no, 49,3 times no”, a reference to a French law that would allow the country’s president to pass pension reform without a vote in the National Assembly.
Christophe Simon/AFP
While the scale of the strikes in both countries is historic, a scholar in employer relations notes the legislative conditions framing industrial action in the UK are much more restrictive.
It is the first time French trade unions have shown unity since their opposition to pension reform in 2010.
Julien De Rosa/AFP
France’s trade unions have managed to galvanise the largest movement in decades in opposition to pension reform. What will happen to them once the bill has been passed or abandoned?
Protesters wave French trade union CGT flags during a rally called by French trade unions against the government pension reform plan in Marseille, southern France, on January 19, 2023.
Nicolas Tucat/AFP
French citizens have protested pension reform for the past 30 years. A historian explains why the evolving power struggle between the streets and the state does not bode well for today’s strikers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and now-former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (R) in Sochi, Russia, Dec. 7, 2019.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Russia’s cabinet resigned Wednesday, and it looked like an unexpected move. But a Russia scholar says it is part of a plan by leader Vladimir Putin to maintain power after he leaves office.