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France faces massive strikes over pension reform

French trade unions are heading for what is expected to be a decisive showdown with President Emmanuel Macron over pension reform, with massive strikes from Tuesday aiming to bring the country "to a standstill".

French strike
People take part in a demonstration in Paris on February 16th, 2023 as part of a fifth day of nationwide strikes and rallies against French president's pensions reform whose headline measure is raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64. Photo by: Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

After five separate days of protests so far this year, this week’s stoppages herald a new phase in the battle between the centrist government and opponents of the changes, which includes an overwhelming majority of French voters.

“We always said that we would go into a higher gear if necessary,” the head of the influential hard-left CGT union, Philippe Martinez, told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper on Sunday. “It will be the case on Tuesday.”

More than 260 demonstrations are expected nationwide, many in small and medium-sized towns where opposition to the reform is strong, while strikes will affect transport, the energy sector and public services.

Police are expecting between 1.1-1.4 million people to hit the streets, a source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The upper limit of that range would represent the biggest day of protests in decades, higher than the 1.27 million who took part in demonstrations on January 31st, and bigger than previous pension reform protests in 2010.

Unions representing workers on the national SNCF railways, the Paris metro and the energy sector, including refineries, have called for rolling strikes for the first time, with other industries expected to join in.

All eight major French trade unions have called for the stoppages to bring the country “to a standstill” on Tuesday, with shopkeepers also encouraged to down shutters.

“The 7th (Tuesday) is going to be very difficult,” Transport Minister Clement Beaune admitted on Friday, calling on workers to stay home where possible.

Unfair reform?

Macron’s plan to raise the official age of retirement from 62 to 64 is a flagship policy of his second term in office, which began last year after he defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

He has called the change “essential” because of deficits forecast for the system for most of the next 25 years, according to analysis by the independent pensions ombudsman.

France also lags behind its neighbours and other major European economies where the retirement age has already been hiked to 65 or above to reflect higher life expectancy.

But opponents see the changes as unfair, penalising low-skilled workers who start their careers early, while reducing the right to leisure and a long retirement at the end of working life.

Labour Minister Olivier Dussopt insisted in an interview on Saturday that 1.8 million low-income retirees would see their pensions increase by up to 100 euros a month from September if the reform is enacted.

“That won’t make them rich, but it’s a substantial effort that has never been carried out despite announcements over the last 20 years,” he said.

Countdown

Time is running out for the unions and other opponents of the reform to force the government into a U-turn.

The legislation has already been discussed in the lower house National Assembly, and is currently being debated in the upper-house Senate, where it is expected to be amended but approved.

A final vote from both chambers is expected from the middle of March and by March 26th at the latest.

Macron has faced numerous challenges from the unions in the past and, almost without exception, has succeeded in pushing through his pro-business agenda and social security reforms.

The former investment banker, often accused of being aloof and out of touch, has tasked Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne with being the face of the pension reform and leading negotiations with opposition parties and labour leaders.

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POLITICS

New Caledonia airport to reopen Monday, curfew reduced: authorities

New Caledonia's main international airport will reopen from Monday after being shut last month during a spate of deadly unrest, the high commission in the French Pacific territory said, adding a curfew would also be reduced.

New Caledonia airport to reopen Monday, curfew reduced: authorities

The commission said Sunday that it had “decided to reopen the airport during the day” and to “push back to 8:00 pm (from 6:00 pm) the start of the curfew as of Monday”.

The measures had been introduced after violence broke out on May 13 over a controversial voting reform that would have allowed long-term residents to participate in local polls.

The archipelago’s Indigenous Kanaks feared the move would dilute their vote, putting hopes for eventually winning independence definitively out of reach.

READ ALSO: Explained: What’s behind the violence on French island of New Caledonia?

Barricades, skirmishes with the police and looting left nine dead and hundreds injured, and inflicted hundreds of millions of euros in damage.

The full resumption of flights at Tontouta airport was made possible by the reopening of an expressway linking it to the capital Noumea that had been blocked by demonstrators, the commission said.

Previously the airport was only handling a small number of flights with special exemptions.

Meanwhile, the curfew, which runs until 6:00 am, was reduced “in light of the improvement in the situation and in order to facilitate the gradual return to normal life”, the commission added.

French President Emmanuel Macron had announced on Wednesday that the voting reform that touched off the unrest would be “suspended” in light of snap parliamentary polls.

Instead he aimed to “give full voice to local dialogue and the restoration of order”, he told reporters.

Although approved by both France’s National Assembly and Senate, the reform had been waiting on a constitutional congress of both houses to become part of the basic law.

Caledonian pro-independence movements had already considered reform dead given Macron’s call for snap elections.

“This should be a time for rebuilding peace and social ties,” the Kanak Liberation Party (Palika) said Wednesday before the announcement.

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