French Unions Keep Pressure on Macron to Abandon Pension Reforms

(Bloomberg) --

French unions kept up pressure on President Emmanuel Macron to abandon his pension reform plans with a fourth day of demonstrations across the country on Thursday, while the government said a compromise may be in sight.

Macron’s plan to replace 42 different pension regimes with a single, points-based system and raise the age for a full pension to 64 from 62, has triggered strikes that entered their 36th day -- a record for the transport sector.

“The mobilization is still there, and the anger, too,” Philippe Martinez, head of the far-left CGT union, which wants the government to abandon its proposals, told Europe 1 radio. “This reform is bad. We have propositions. We want to improve the current system. There are two conflicting plans. We’re not against everything.”

The CFDT union, which supports a universal points-based pension system, repeated its opposition to the age increase on Thursday. “If the retirement age remains in the law, it’s no,” CFDT head Laurent Berger told AFP news agency.

Following a proposal by the CFDT, the government is planning to meet with unions again on Friday to discuss a financing conference as it seeks to find a way to balance the cost of the pension system.

Compromise Possible

“I’m convinced” there will be a compromise on Friday, junior minister for transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said on BFM TV. “We’ve bet on dialog and the ability to build compromise.”

The first march organized by unions on Dec. 5 drew more than 800,000 people, the biggest turnout since Macron took office in May 2017. Two subsequent marches in December saw lower numbers.

Read More: Gridlocked Pension Talks Threaten 2020 Outlook: Economics

Travelers and commuters faced difficulties again on Thursday, with significantly reduced rail services across France and metro services in the capital.

Despite the disruption, a poll by Elabe released on Monday showed 53% of the French support or sympathize with the protest movement, down 1 point from mid-December. Some 46% of those surveyed were now in favor of the reform plan, up 3 points, while 53% were against it, down 4 points. Two-thirds opposed raising the retirement age.

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