Teenagers for Retirement

I feel like I have to say something about the recent demonstrations over retirement age reform.

I know that people in the U.S. (and maybe elsewhere) were bombarded with images of burning cars and stone-throwing. I assure you, however, that these incidents were limited to Lyon and the suburbs of Paris. Throughout France-- including in Péronne-- the demonstrations were relatively tame.

So what was the issue, anyway? One of the other teachers explained it to me:

Sarkozy raised the retirement age from 60 to 62. Nobody was happy about that, but the French are aware that they have one of the lowest retirement ages in the world, and the age itself was not necessarily the main cause of alarm. Rather, people felt that the president was robbing them of a treasured social benefit. One they had worked hard to obtain. This generous retirement package was one of the spoils of electing, after a long struggle, a socialist president in the 1980's.

The strikers also floated a sort of domino theory: if the president takes away this right, what will he take away next? Since France tends to be a model for other European countries, people also worried that this move would make foreign leaders feel free to take away the rights of their own people.

But why so many high schoolers, you may ask? What do they care about retirement?

Good question. Indeed, teenagers made up the bulk of demonstrators in streets throughout France. The reasoning they gave to TV interviewers was that, if the older population keeps their jobs longer, then fewer jobs will open up for young people. I think that general anti-Sarkozy sentiment and the sheer coolness of joining a social movement didn't hurt, either.



Strike day in Péronne started at 7am sharp. You would think these teenagers would take advantage of being on strike and, you know, sleep in a little. Instead, I woke up to the sound of cheers, horns, and vuvuzelas leftover from the World Cup.

The teachers at my school had already informed me that I didn't need to bother showing up to class that day. There wouldn't be many English teachers at school, and even fewer students. A rumor floated around that the kids were going to blockade the entrance to the high school so that no one could get in or out. That never happened, but they did crowd around outside the school to chant and make noise. The police were there-- not doing anything, just watching and chatting with each other. They looked bored.

In the afternoon, the students had a parade through the town. They started at the high school, walked down the main street, rallied in the town square, then looped back. They chanted in unison ("Sarko! Sarko! Something Something Something!") and held hand-drawn banners ("Don't Extend Retirement to the Grave!"). The police followed slowly in their cars, just in case. I followed them for a while-- at a distance, since they had small fireworks like Black Cats that they left in their wake.

I took some videos on my iPhone that I'll post here. One is of the rally in the town square. There is also an up-close video of the parade that I took later in the day, after things had quieted down a bit and the kids had run out of Black Cats.

As someone told me, "It's been a few years. . . About time for a big strike!"