French workers in Nice striking against the planned pension reforms initiated by the conservative government of President Sarkozy. This is the second general strike in less than a month.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Services being disrupted across the country as unions stage another
major strike over plans to raise retirement age
12 Oct 2010 11:57 GMT
Sarkozy's pension reform has triggered a showdown with unions that
sunk a previous effort 15 years ago
French workers are staging a fourth major strike in just over a month
against government plans to raise the retirement age, in what is
becoming a showdown between workers and Nicolas Sarkozy, the
president.
Rail, sea port and flight workers went on strike across the country on
Tuesday, while the Paris metro was slowed significantly.
Walkouts were also expected at hundreds of high schools, with teachers and students taking part in the action.
Up to half the flights at Orly Airport and a third of flights from
Charles de Gaulle-Roissy in Paris are expected to be cancelled,
although airlines had already re-booked many passengers ahead of the strike.
Some unions are threatening to continue the strike action beyond the
usual 24-hour period, meaning the walkout could last weeks.
The strike comes a day after the French senate voted to raise the
country's official minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, as part of a
deeply unpopular pension reform bill.
High turnout expected
The unions have called for nationwide protest marches later in the
day, and say they are expecting millions of people to turn out.
Three prior protests have attracted crowds numbering in the hundreds
of thousands but have not halted Sarkozy's pension reform plan.
"The government is taking the risk of a radicalisation of the
movement," Francois Chereque, head of the powerful CFDT union, said.
"There will be a very big turnout today."
Sarkozy faces re-election in 2012, and his opinion poll ratings are at
all-time lows. David Assouline, an opposition leader, accused Sarkozy
of trying to provoke a "showdown" and bring unions "to their knees".
Monday's vote, which came in at a narrow 174 to 159, shut the door on
the most controversial aspect of the reform package, which Sarkozy's
administration hopes to pass by the end of the month.
The senate also voted to raise the minimum age to receive a full state
pension from 65 to 67.
Oil industry strike
The oil industry and education workers have also joined in the strike.
Employees at France's biggest oil port, Fos-Lavera, have now halted
work for 15 straight days, and the education ministry predicted that
more than a fourth of the country's elementary and pre-kindergarten
teachers would strike on Tuesday.
One poll of around 1,000 people published in the newspaper Le Parisien found that 69 per cent of respondents supported the new strike, while 61 per cent supported a "continuous and lasting" one.
Like other European governments looking at austerity measures, France faces a deficit and a need to improve its finances if it hopes to
retain a AAA credit rating, enabling the country to borrow money at a
lower interest rate.
The reform bill has already been approved in its entirety by the lower
house of France's parliament, the National Assembly. The senate is now voting on it piece by piece.
Source: Agencies
No comments:
Post a Comment