Trade unions at Air France today called a strike for November 4th to protest against the government's unpopular pension reform, even as industrial action in others sectors appeared to be fizzling out.
The Air France strike date is two days before another day of nationwide protests called by unions against president Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to make the French work two years more.
"We call ... on all Groupe Air France workers to make Thursday November 4th 2010 a day of mobilisation and strike action in French airports," said a joint statement by six unions.
Unions are trying to keep up the pressure on the government following final approval of a pension reform bill in parliament on Wednesday, although rail strikes are weakening and a further wave of street rallies on Thursday was much smaller than before.
Rail strikes are causing less disruption than before and the Air France union's call came as oil refinery workers voted to go back to work, signalling an end to one of the biggest outstanding disputes, which had severely cut fuel supplies.
Protesters have staged mass demonstrations across France in recent weeks and strikers have shut down refineries, but they failed to stop parliament from enacting the reforms, which raise the minimum retirement age for state pensions to 62 from 60.
Workers at a northern oil terminal which serves a third of France's refineries, as well as at Total's Gonfreville plant and at the Ineos Lavera plant voted on Friday to end strikes that have squeezed petrol pump supplies this month.
Workers still on strike at four remaining refineries will vote later on Friday on whether to continue their action.
Having passed parliament, the pension bill now awaits only a Constitutional Court signature to become law.
The president's busy calendar next week, attending a Franco-British summit in London and hosting a state visit by China's president Hu Jintao, should take attention off the strikes and protests which tarnished the image Sarkozy aims to present of a modern France that can tackle swollen deficits.
Unions are not dropping their opposition to the increase in retirement age, however, and a clause in the bill opening the possibility of a review in 2013 means the issue could come back to bite Mr Sarkozy in the campaign for a 2012 presidential vote.
"The pension problem does not end with the reform being voted. It's moreover written in the text that the system will be reviewed again in 2013," CFDT union head Francois Chereque said in an interview with Le Parisien published today.
He said unions would meet on November 4th to decide whether to schedule further action beyond another day of street marches set for November 6th. Turnout at demonstrations yesterday was down by around half from earlier marches against the pension bill.
Mr Sarkozy's push to stem a pension shortfall by increasing the retirement age blew up into the biggest challenge of his presidency, sparking months of some of the fiercest protests seen in Europe against deficit-cutting measures.
The low turnout at the latest day of demonstrations and strikes yesterday showed the protest is flagging, however, with only minor disruption to transport and public services.
While polls still show most people back the protests, Force Ouvriere union leader Jean-Claude Mailly acknowledged yesterday the movement was showing "a little fatigue".
Mr Sarkozy, sometimes dubbed the "hyper-president" for his energetic style, has kept a low profile this week. Rather than sing victory, he is focusing on his meeting with Hu and a November G20 summit in Seoul when France will take the baton as president of the economic leadership forum.
"Some concerns, often legitimate, have been expressed -- I have listened to them, I have thought about them and at the appropriate time, I will take initiatives to respond to them," Sarkozy told a news conference in Brussels for an EU summit.
French media are also moving on from pensions and are engrossed in speculation about who could join the government under a cabinet reshuffled expected after the Seoul summit.
"The president has evoked the idea many times that after the pension vote there would be a new political cycle, so it's up to him now to fix the road map and explain to the French what he wants to do in the next 18 months," government spokesman Luc Chatel told RMC radio.
A separate month-old strike at the port of Fos-Lavera near the southern city of Marseille over job conditions remains a headache for Mr Sarkozy, as it is starving many refineries of crude oil. The strike left 58 oil tankers stranded offshore on Friday.
Petrol shortages have eased though since the government cleared fuel depot blockades and hiked imports.
As well as leaving the door open to a more comprehensive review of the pension system in 2013, Mr Sarkozy's final pension reform contained exceptions for some labourers and for women near retirement age who left jobs to care for several children.
Reuters