Unions buoyant as 1.27 million French protest pension reform

By ELAINE GANLEY, JADE LE DELEY and JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French authorities say an estimated 1.27 million people have joined in nationwide protests against the government’s planned pension reforms. In a victory for unions fighting the planned raising of the retirement age, that figure exceeds the estimated 1 million who took part in a first round of protests on Jan. 19. The government was forced to acknowledge that it “hears” the “questions and doubts” raised by the reforms. The eight unions organizing Tuesday’s demonstrations promptly announced that they would organize new protests on Feb. 7 and Feb. 11. The powerful CGT union claimed that 2.8 million protesters marched Tuesday. In the capital, police said 87,000 people took to the streets.