In France, on January 19, 2023, two million people took to the streets against the planned pension reform. Eight trade unions had called for a general strike. The call was joined by a dozen youth organizations and France's left-wing party La France Insoumise. The struggle is ongoing.

France's government wants to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Currently, the retirement age is 62. In reality, however, retirement begins later on average: those who have not paid in long enough to be entitled to a full pension also work longer.

The video is the first of a series of videos about the social movement against Macron's new 2023 pension law. Each episode follows one part of the movement and shows in portraits how people's lives are affected by the neoliberal reforms. In this episode, Pascal Bernhardt and Arnaud Kaba follow the beginnings of the movement, the first two demonstrations in Paris, with a special focus on the citizens of the French Antilles.