Headlines January 31, 2023 from Democracy Now!

In France, hundreds of thousands of people marched through the streets of cities nationwide today as unions went on strike to protest a bid to slash pension benefits. President Emmanuel Macron has proposed raising the age of retirement from 62 to 64 years old, and refused to back down earlier this month when more than a million people took part in a similar nationwide strike.

Tens of thousands of workers are poised to strike across the United Kingdom on Wednesday, after members of the ruling Conservative Party advanced legislation that would allow the government to break strikes by ensuring workplaces maintain “minimum services” during work stoppages. On Monday, Labour MP Zarah Sultana joined a protest against the anti-worker bill outside the prime minister’s Downing Street residence.  Zarah Sultana: “The Tories know that their program is unpopular. They know that workers are getting angrier. They know that the public doesn’t want a government that sacrifices people and planet for profit. So they want to crush us. They want to crush dissent. They want to rob us of our rights and stop us from fighting back.”