Juliette Binoche Among 300 French Stars Protesting Pension Reform

Juliette Binoche, Laure Calamy (“Call My Agent!”), Camille Cottin (“Stillwater”) and Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”) are among the 300 stars who signed an open letter addressed to France President Emmanuel Macron to demand the withdrawal of the retirement bill.

The letter was published in French newspaper Liberation ahead of massive and fiery protests that rallied more than a million people across the country on Thursday, according to local press. Despite the ongoing strikes, the government passed the unpopular bill last week to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, and was allowed to bypass a vote by using a constitutional clause called 49.3.

“You chose to push through a pension reform that is unfair, inefficient and one that impacts more severely the most vulnerable people and women,” said the letter, which added that the “reform has been rejected by the immense majority of the population.”

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The letter also highlighted the fact that women working in cultural fields tend to be put at a disadvantage compared with men because “roles are offered more rarely to women past the age of 50.”

The strike, which has been going on for 10 consecutive days, has disrupted local and national transportation, including railway and flights, as well as oil refineries and schools. The civic unrest has also plagued local industry events, notably Series Mania Festival in Lille. Another nationwide protest is now set March 28.