French unions hold new pension strike before two-week pause

FRENCH unions held another day of strikes and protests on Thursday (Feb 16), in a fresh test of opposition to President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age ahead of a two-week pause during the school holidays.

The government will be looking for signs that pushback against the flagship economic reform is waning after it presented some concessions, with ministers indicating that they are determined to lift the minimum age to claim a pension from 62 to 64.

Labour unions are digging in, however, and are already looking ahead to a further day of strikes on Mar 7, when they aim to bring the country to a standstill.

“The mobilisation is still there, and the motivation is greater than ever,” CGT union head Philippe Martinez said. “Each day there are new people who come. There are people in the streets, there are people on strike. It’s a movement that’s very ingrained.”

People faced less travel disruption than on previous strike days, with 80 per cent of high-speed trains due to run, and service operating at almost normal levels on the international Eurostar and Thalys routes, said rail operator SNCF. Schools in much of France are already on holiday, while the two-week vacation period in the Paris region and part of the country’s southern region starts this weekend.

Electricite de France’s nuclear and gas-fired power capacity was reduced by about 3.2 GW on Thursday morning. Oil group TotalEnergies said that deliveries from its biofuels site at La Mede were affected.

Macron saw the biggest protests of his time as president in January, after he pledged to deliver on the pension reform. The 45-year-old leader said the reform is a vital part of his economic program, as he aims to boost employment and incomes, and bring down public debt. 

Opinion polls show that a majority of French people are still opposed to the overhaul, however, and unions intend to intensify their action when schools reopen.

“We plan to bring France to a standstill; we want immense protest marches on Mar 7,” Laurent Berger, leader of the moderate CFDT union, said on Thursday.

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The latest survey by Ifop-Fiducial for Sud Radio shows that opposition to the pension reform has ticked back up three points to 72 per cent. Still, two-thirds of the 1,008 adults interviewed online on Tuesday and Wednesday said that they expect Macron to push through the new legislation regardless.

Meanwhile, debate on the reform at the National Assembly has been bogged down by thousands of amendments and political infighting. Time may run out for key provisions to be put to the floor before Friday, after which the bill is due to move to the Senate.

The government, which lost its absolute majority in parliament last year, suffered a minor setback on Wednesday when lawmakers rejected what was initially a concession to unions to create an index that would name and shame companies that push out older workers before the legal retirement age.

Still, the conservative Republicains have said that they will likely end up backing the pension reform, giving Macron’s party enough support to avoid using controversial provisions to bypass a vote. 

“We believe we have a majority on this bill, but to show that, we need to get to a vote and do away with the obstruction,” Labour Minister Olivier Dussopt said on Wednesday.  “This reform is necessary as we have a system that is structurally in deficit, whichever way you look at it.” BLOOMBERG