Unpopular French strikes raise anger, opposition

Unpopular French strikes raise anger, opposition

PARIS: French commuters are preparing for more disruption this week when transport unions go on strike but the protests against changes to pension rules enjoy nothing like the broad public support that sustained previous strike campaigns.
Furious confrontations between travellers and protesting students who blocked trains at the Gare du Nord station in Paris last week gave a taste of the mood after a one-day strike last month that ended up crippling the Paris metro system for days.
“It’s completely scandalous that the public should be taken hostage in this way, not only because most people don’t have the privileges the strikers have but because they actually have to pay for them,” said Jean-Francois Veysset, an official at small business association CGPME.
Unions and the government remain locked in conflict over plans to scrap special pension rules that allow many public sector workers to retire on full pensions after paying contributions for 37.5 years rather than the standard 40 years.
A previous attempt to reform the “special pensions regime” in 1995 failed after weeks of strikes that enjoyed relatively wide support from a public concerned about threats to France’s generous social security system.
This time the situation is different. A survey by pollsters Ifop last month showed 77% in favour of reforming the “special pension regimes”, with 61% judging the one-day strike on October 18 to be unjustified.
Separate polls by the CSA institute have shown only 21% support for the strikes among the population, Stephan Rozes, the group’s head told the daily Le Monde yesterday.
“CSA has measured opinions during 57 strike movements since 1995 and this is the third lowest score on our scale,” he said.
President Nicolas Sarkozy was elected in May on a pledge to reform the system, which he says is outdated and unfair. Unions have vowed to defend rules set in place after World War II.
The first rail strikes are due to begin this evening and continue indefinitely after several unions voted for an open-ended campaign of stoppages.
“We’re obviously not too pleased about it,” said Marc Pelissier, secretary general of the Association of Transport Users in the Ile de France region that includes Paris.
“In the big agglomerations like the Ile-de-France, you have 3mn or 4mn people who’ll be affected and who could lose income or run up extra costs for childcare or whatever.”
Unrelated disputes involving students, public servants, lawyers, fishermen, police and Air France cabin staff have added to a climate of uncertainty and confrontation that looks set to test the government’s resolve.
But there is so far little sign of any unified protest movement and the rail unions themselves have been divided after some drivers agreed to a separate deal.
A counter-demonstration against the strikes on Sunday has been called by “Liberte Cherie”, a group that supports liberal, pro-free market ideas normally viewed with scepticism in much of France but organisers say the strike issue has broad appeal. – Reuters