French hardline union calls for more strikes
French hardline union CGT called on Wednesday for more strikes in France this month after president Emmanuel Macron pledged to push through an overhaul of the pension system following weeks of nationwide strikes by trade unions.
Macron said in a traditional New Year's Eve address on Tuesday that he expected his government to quickly find a compromise with unions on the reform, but without departing from the principles laid out by ministers. Unions are trying to force the former investment banker to abandon his overhaul of France's pension system with nationwide strikes since Dec. 5 that have crippled public transport.
"I was under the impression of having heard these words a thousand times," Philippe Martinez, the head of the CGT union, told BFM television of Macron's address. "I still do not see anything new in the government's position. The alarm signal needs to be louder, we need strikes everywhere," Martinez said.
Martinez said his organization would take part in a meeting between unions and the government on Jan. 7. The government has already conceded that some workers, like police and firefighters, would still be able to have early retirements under their "special regimes," a system of legacy plans to compensate for especially strenuous jobs.
Paris Opera dancers, meanwhile, were told over the weekend that the reform would apply only to new recruits from January 2022.
But Macron's goal is to do away with the country's 42 separate pension systems in favour of a single system that he says is more transparent and fairer, in particular to women and low earners.
But unions say the reform could force millions in both the public and private sectors to work longer than expected, or face curtailed pension benefits.
