French Unions Hold New Pension Strike Before Two-Week Pause

William Horobin
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- French unions held another day of strikes and protests on Thursday 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.

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

Around 440,000 took part in marches across the country, down sharply from 963,000 million on Feb. 31, according to government figures. Labor unions are digging in, however, and are already looking ahead to a further day of strikes on March 7, when they aim to bring the country to a standstill.

“The mobilization is still there and the motivation is greater than ever,” CGT union head Philippe Martinez said on BFM TV. “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% of high-speed trains running and service almost normal on international Eurostar and Thalys routes, according to 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 south starts this weekend.

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

Read more: French Strikes Cut 5.2 Gigawatts of EDF’s Power Capacity

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 says it’s a vital part of his economic program as he aims to boost employment and incomes, and bring down public debt.

Opinion polls show 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 March 7,” Laurent Berger, leader of the moderate CFDT union, said on BFM TV on Thursday.

The latest survey by Ifop-Fiducial for Sud Radio shows opposition to the pension reform has ticked back up 3 points to 72%. Still, two-thirds of the 1,008 adults interviewed online on Tuesday and Wednesday said 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 to name and shame companies that push out older workers before the legal retirement age.

Still, the conservative Republicains have said 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,” Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt said on France Inter radio on Wednesday. “This reform is necessary as we have a system that is structurally in deficit, whichever way you look at it.”

(Updates with interior ministry estimate for total number of protesters in the third paragraph.)

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