Researchers join strikes against pension reform

Unions say reform bill places researchers at a particular disadvantage

French academics and researchers have joined hundreds of thousands of people striking on the streets of Paris—including transport, postal and dock workers—to urge the government to abandon plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Huge crowds gathered at Place d’Italie in the south of the city on 31 January before marching to the Hôtel des Invalides close to the Eiffel Tower, while about 250 demonstrations also took place in other French cities and towns.