FRENCH TRADE unions have called strikes and protest marches today to rally opposition to the government’s plan to raise the retirement age beyond 60 years.
After months of speculation, labour minister Eric Woerth confirmed this week that raising the legal age of retirement would be part of a pension reform package due to be enacted this autumn.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has made pension reform the domestic priority of his remaining two years in power, but he faces strong opposition from the Socialist Party and trade unions.
“In a moment when the government and the business lobby want to believe that the French are willing to accept a lengthening of their working lives and a regression in their retirement age to 62, even 65, this mobilisation is decisive,” the CGT, France’s largest union, said in a statement.
Rail operator SNCF said high-speed trains will run almost normally, and international services to London and Brussels won’t be affected. About three-quarters of regional trains will run, as will about 80 per cent of Paris commuter trains, it said.
The Paris metro will run fairly normally, as will the RER “A” line. The RER “B”, which links the capital’s two main airports, will run at half service.
France’s aviation authority said it was asking airlines to cut 10 per cent of flights at Charles de Gaulle and 30 per cent at Orly airport in the morning because of striking air-traffic controllers.
The alarming state of France’s pension system became clear last month when a government advisory group forecast a funding shortfall of about €40 billion by 2015, rather than the €15 billion predicted three years ago. This “black hole” could rise to €114 billion by 2050, the report said.
Conscious pension reform brought down Jacques Chirac’s first government, ministers have invited unions for consultations, and this week’s announcement was preceded by months of hints.
However, Mr Woerth’s announcement was immediately condemned by the Socialist Party, which has set itself against any change and says the deficit should be addressed through higher taxes for the rich. It was a Socialist president, François Mitterrand, who in 1981 lowered the retirement age from 65 to 60, and current leader Martine Aubry has said she would reverse any change were she to be elected president in 2012.
Mr Sarkozy further riled the socialists this week when he reportedly told members of his UMP bloc that France would have “far fewer problems” if Mitterrand had not lowered the retirement age and the Socialists had not introduced the 35-hour working week.