Paris: Anti-Pension Reform Protesters Storm Investment Firm BlackRock's Office

Trade unions are protesting against French government's plan to increase the retirement age from 62 years to 64.

Amid the ongoing strike against French government's pension reforms, dozens of protesters briefly invaded the central Paris building which houses a US-based investment firm BlackRock's office, on Thursday, 6 April.

(Photo: Video screengrab)

Amid the ongoing strike against French government's pension reforms, dozens of protesters briefly invaded the central Paris building which houses a US-based investment firm BlackRock's office, on Thursday, 6 April, reported news agency Reuters.

The demonstrators were chanting slogans like "On est la" ("we are here") and also set off firecrackers. However, the left the building after about half an hour.

But why? Françoise Onic (51), a school teacher and one of the protesters told Reuters targetted BlackRock because of its private pension fund activity.

"The government wants to throw away pensions, it wants to force people to fund their own retirement with private pension funds, but what we know is that only the rich will be able to benefit from such a setup," Onic said.

Jerome Schmitt, spokesman for French union SUD, told CNN that, "The meaning of this action is quite simple. We went to the headquarters of BlackRock to tell them: the money of workers, for our pensions, they are taking it.”

More Details: The development comes amid the nationwide trade unions led strikes against the government's plan to increase the retirement age from 62 years to 64.

What's noteworthy here is that unlike other European countries, France has a system of pensions where the people who are currently working directly fund the pensions of those now in retirement, Reuters reported.

(With inputs from Reuters and CNN.)