French Senate adopts pension bill despite street protests

By ELAINE GANLEY
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — A contentious bill that would raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 got a push forward with the Senate’s adoption of the measure amid strikes, protests and uncollected garbage piling higher by the day. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tweeted late Saturday after the 195-112 vote that she looks forward to the bill’s definitive passage “in the coming days.” But the legislation must now move through tricky political territory with multiple potential outcomes. It heads first to a committee of senators and lower house lawmakers to find a compromise between their versions of the text on Wednesday when unions planned an eighth round of nationwide protests.