France's pension protests faltering
Source: Agencies |
October 28, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy moved closer to victory yesterday in his showdown with unions over pension reform, with strikes easing and street marches °?losing momentum.
Public transport was returning to normal, fuel was leaving depots at five oil refineries and garbage collectors in the southern port city of Marseille cleared heaps of maggot-infested rubbish after ending a two-week walkout.
A separate month-old strike at the Marseille oil port of Fos-Lavera may now become the government's main focus as it is starving the bulk of France's refineries of crude oil, preventing them restarting operations.
Sarkozy has kept a low profile this week as his reform, to make people work two years longer for their pensions, comes close to becoming law. It has provoked some of Europe's fiercest protests against deficit-cutting measures.
CGT union head Bernard Thibault told the Liberation newspaper, in an interview yesterday, the battle over pension reform was not over.
Unions have called on airline and rail workers to strike today, meaning some flights and train services could be affected.
"We can see that this week marks a change," Labor Minister Erik Woerth, in charge of the pension bill, told Canal Plus television.
Both houses of parliament have approved the bill and the national assembly signed off on revisions to the text yesterday by 336 votes to 233. The law now needs to approved by the constitutional council, where a last-minute challenge by the opposition Socialists could mean a delay of a few days.
Public transport was returning to normal, fuel was leaving depots at five oil refineries and garbage collectors in the southern port city of Marseille cleared heaps of maggot-infested rubbish after ending a two-week walkout.
A separate month-old strike at the Marseille oil port of Fos-Lavera may now become the government's main focus as it is starving the bulk of France's refineries of crude oil, preventing them restarting operations.
Sarkozy has kept a low profile this week as his reform, to make people work two years longer for their pensions, comes close to becoming law. It has provoked some of Europe's fiercest protests against deficit-cutting measures.
CGT union head Bernard Thibault told the Liberation newspaper, in an interview yesterday, the battle over pension reform was not over.
Unions have called on airline and rail workers to strike today, meaning some flights and train services could be affected.
"We can see that this week marks a change," Labor Minister Erik Woerth, in charge of the pension bill, told Canal Plus television.
Both houses of parliament have approved the bill and the national assembly signed off on revisions to the text yesterday by 336 votes to 233. The law now needs to approved by the constitutional council, where a last-minute challenge by the opposition Socialists could mean a delay of a few days.
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