Protesters storm Paris Euronext building in anger over pension law

French SNCF railway workers on strike, wearing vests of French CGT and Sud Rail labour unions, enter the headquarters of stock market operator Euronext at La Defense business and financial district as part of a "day of expression of railway anger" following months of strikes and a failed attempt to halt pension reforms, in Courbevoie near Paris, France, April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

A group of protesters briefly invaded offices of stockmarket operator Euronext in Paris' La Defense business district on Thursday, saying big companies must pay up to finance pensions, as part of wider protests against a rise in the retirement age.

"We are told that there is no money to finance pensions," said Sud-Rail unionist Fabien Villedieu. But there is "no need to get the money from the pockets of workers, there is some in the pockets of billionaires."

French SNCF railway workers on strike, holding red flares and wearing vests of French CGT and Sud Rail labour unions, enter the headquarters of stock market operator Euronext at La Defense business and financial district as part of a "day of expression of railway anger" following months of strikes and a failed attempt to halt pension reforms, in Courbevoie near Paris, France, April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Waving union flags, the group of a few hundred protesters occupied Euronext's lobby, engulfed in red smoke from flares, and chanted words popular with pension protesters: "We are here, we are here, even if Macron does not want it we are here."

They also shouted: "Macron resign!"

Earlier this month, similar scenes occurred at Blackrock's Paris offices.

French SNCF railway workers on strike, holding red flares and CGT and Sud Rail labour unions flags, gather in front of the headquarters of stock market operator Euronext at La Defense business and financial district as part of a "day of expression of railway anger" following months of strikes and a failed attempt to halt pension reforms, in Courbevoie near Paris, France, April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

At the weekend, Macron signed into law the rise in the retirement age which means citizens must work two years longer, to 64, before receiving their state pension.

That was after three months of protests that brought huge crowds onto the streets and at times turned violent. Opinion polls show a vast majority of voters oppose the pension reform.

Macron and his government say they want to move on and work on other measures to do with working conditions, law and order, education and health issues.

French SNCF railway workers on strike, holding red flares, enter the headquarters of stock market operator Euronext at La Defense business and financial district as part of a "day of expression of railway anger" following months of strikes and a failed attempt to halt pension reforms, in Courbevoie near Paris, France, April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

But the protesters in La Defense on Thursday, as well as those who heckled Macron during a visit to France's eastern Alsace region on Wednesday, made clear many were not ready to move on.

"We'll continue until the (pension law's) withdrawal," protesters shouted in La Defense's central square, standing by a banner that read: "No to the pension reform".

Macron himself faced protests on Thursday during his second public outing since signing the bill into law.

French SNCF railway workers on strike, holding red flares, gather in front of the headquarters of stock market operator Euronext at La Defense business and financial district as part of a "day of expression of railway anger" following months of strikes and a failed attempt to halt pension reforms, in Courbevoie near Paris, France, April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

While he was visiting a school in the southern French town of Ganges, smiling and taking selfies with pupils, protesters held a few hundred meters away by police also chanted against the pension reform.

"There is a bit of everything," Macron said in the schoolyard, shrugging off the protests. "There are people who are happy, and people who are not happy."

(Additional reporting by Lucien Libert, Tassilo Hummel, Elizabeth Pineau, Benjamin Mallet; writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Christina Fincher)

French President Emmanuel Macron meets school children as he visits a middle school, Thursday, April 20, 2023 in Ganges, southern France. Daniel Cole/Pool via REUTERS

French SNCF railway workers on strike, holding red flares, enter the headquarters of stock market operator Euronext at La Defense business and financial district as part of a "day of expression of railway anger" following months of strikes and a failed attempt to halt pension reforms, in Courbevoie near Paris, France, April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier