Unions opposed to the new system are hoping for a repeat of 1995, when they forced the government to withdraw its pension reform after weeks of strikes just before Christmas. France’s former finance minister Michel Sapin urged President Emmanuel Macron to break the deadlock over his controversial pension reform, as unions staged a 13th day of strikes and geared up for more street protests against the planned changes. “An impasse has been reached… The government must change attitude and clarify its reform plans,” Mr Sapin told the news channel BFMTV on Sunday, as he slammed a reform he said he has “little understanding for”.
The pension reform is an “extra burden” that serves no purpose, he continued, as he criticised the government for proposing that people work longer to get a full pension.
The government has particularly angered the unions by proposing a reduced payout for people who retire at the legal age of 62 instead of a new, so-called “pivot age” of 64 – a proposal slammed as “explosive” by Mr Sapin.
French workers took to the streets on Tuesday on the 13th straight day of a crippling union-led transport strike that has caused misery for millions of commuters, dented business turnover and threatened the holiday plans of thousands.
Unions are hoping for a repeat of 1995, when they forced a conservative government to withdraw a pension reform after three weeks of metro and rail strikes just before Christmas.
But with just days left to prevent transport mayhem for the scores who have already brought their tickers for the festive break, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Monday invited unions and employers’ organisations to take part in “working meetings” on Wednesday.
The sessions on the government’s plan to merge the country’s 42 state-funded pension schemes into a single, points-based system will be followed by a joint meeting on Thursday, he said.
Mr Philippe has also offered to discuss the reform with the rail operator SNCF and the RATP Paris public transport company, whose workers have downed tools over a proposal to strip them of their early retirement plan.
But unions have pledged to continue their strike action until the Macron government abandons the reform, which they say will force millions to work for longer and for less.
The SNCF has warned that unless the strike ends soon, it will not have enough time to get services back to normal by December 25.
But while Mr Macron has expressed “solidarity” with the millions affected by the mass strike, he has shown no sign of backing down on the reform.
On Monday, the situation was further complicated by the resignation of Jean-Paul Delevoye, appointed by Mr Macron to oversee the pension overhaul, over a brewing scandal about undeclared private sector payments.
Pressure had been mounting on Mr Delevoye to step down over the weekend after it emerged that he had failed to disclose publicly 13 positions, something a government member must do as part of a mandatory declaration of interest when taking up a cabinet role.
In a survey published by Le Figaro newspaper on Monday, pollster Ifop found that 55 percent of French people would find a continuation of the strike over the Christmas holidays “unacceptable”.
The Ifop poll of 1,011 people aged 18 and over was carried out online on December 13.