French officials say 1.27 million protested pension reforms

By JADE LE DELEY and JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French authorities say an estimated 1.27 million people joined in Tuesday’s 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 eight unions organizing the 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 — up from 80,000 in the first big pension protest on Jan. 19, when authorities said 1 million people demonstrated nationwide.