Second nationwide strike in France over pension reform

In this file photo taken on January 19, 2023, passengers stand next to a train station in Paris, as workers go on strike over French President's plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. PHOTO AFP PARIS - A second nationwide strike on Tuesday will disrupt French public transport amid protests across the country, in a backlash against the government's plans to make people work longer before retirement.

The unions want to keep pressure on the government and hope to repeat the large turnout for the first national day of protest on January 19.

On the day, more than a million people marched in opposition to pushing the retirement age to 64 from 62 and accelerating the delay in the age when eligible for a full pension.

The reform is unfair and brutal, according to the secretary general of the civil servants' UNSA union, Luc Farre. Socially, moving the pension age to 64 is going backwards. Only one in three high-speed TGV trains will run on Tuesday, and even fewer local and regional trains will be disrupted, while the Paris metro will be seriously disrupted.

Half of the primary school teachers will walk off the job, their union said, while oil refinery staff and workers across all sectors were set to go on strike.

Opinion polls show a majority of French oppose the reform, but President Emmanuel Macron and his government intend to stand their ground. Macron said on Monday that it would allow the pension system to keep working while visiting the Netherlands.

An additional 17.7 billion euro $19.18 billion in annual pension contributions would be gained by extending the retirement age by two years and allowing the system to break even by 2027, according to Labour Ministry estimates.

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The unions say that there are other ways to tax the wealthy or ask them to be more generous to their employers or well-off pensioners.

The government agreed to a minimum pension of 1,200 euros a month and set the new pensionable age at 64 instead of Macron's campaign pledge of 65.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne says the 64 threshold is non-negotiable but the government is exploring ways to offset some of the impact, in particular on women.

Borne said the government was looking at the impact of the reform on the additional pension rights that women normally get for having children.

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As protesters rally across France, lawmakers will be debating the bill at committee level. The unions said they were trying to convince lawmakers not to vote on the bill.

If there is such a massive opposition to reforms, it would be dangerous for the government not to listen, said Mylene Jacquot, secretary general of the CFDT union's civil servants branch.