ZCZC
BFF-24
FRANCE-STRIKE-POLITICS
French strikes rumble on as PM vows to ‘go to end’
PARIS, Jan 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Paris commuters battled to reach work
again on Monday as a 40-day-old strike dragged on and France’s premier vowed
“to go to the end” with the pension reforms that sparked the action.
There was still major disruption on the Paris metro and national railway
systems, even after Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced a major
concession to the unions at the weekend.
But the situation was somewhat improved from the previous weeks with all
Paris’ metro lines now open in peak hours and the trains running slightly
more regularly.
National rail operator SNCF said that eight out of ten high-speed TGV
trains were now operating, although slower regional trains were more
affected.
“We are going to go to the end” in implementing the pension reforms,
Philippe told France 2 TV late Sunday.
“Those who incite (the strikers) to continue the strike are leading them
perhaps into a dead end… I think that they need to assume their
responsibilities.”
“I think you know the phrase ‘you need to know how to end a strike’. We
are not far now,” he added.
Philippe announced Saturday he would drop plans to increase the official
age for a full pension to 64 from 62 — the so-called “pivot age” a move
welcomed by the more moderate trade unions like the CFDT.
However, the more hardline CGT, FO and Solidaires unions were standing
firm, calling for the strike and protests to continue, including a major
demonstration on January 16.
The government is not budging on its plan for a universal scheme to
rationalise 42 existing pension schemes into a single, points-based system it
says will be fairer and more transparent.
“The end of the pivot age does not mean the end of the strike,” commented
the Le Parisien daily.
The strike has also been observed by other public service workers affected
by the reforms, including staff at the Paris Opera which on Saturday
cancelled its performance of The Barber of Seville, its first show of 2020.
Demonstrators in the capital on Saturday, some masked and hooded, broke
shop windows along their protest route, set fires and threw projectiles at
police in riot gear who responded with tear gas.
BSS/AFP/RY/1555 hrs