New France pension strike as protests lose momentum

Striking workers are still angry about the plans for pension reform

French unions and protesters are mounting another day of strikes and action over the government's pension reform, despite the plan being passed.

Public transport, including flights to and from Orly airport in Paris, are expected to be disrupted.





By BBC News 
But support for the strikes is said to be waning after the National Assembly voted on Wednesday to raise the pension age by two years, from 60 to 62.

The bill faces a legal challenge before France's president can sign it off.
President Nicolas Sarkozy aims to sign the bill into law in November.

Disruption

Thursday will be the seventh day of action since the beginning of the dispute over pension reform.

Protest leaders are aiming to organise marches in about 100 French towns and cities, in concert with strikes by public sector unions.

Aviation officials predict half of flights at Paris Orly airport will be cancelled and 30% at other airports.
Trains, post offices, schools and public services will all be affected again.

Union leaders say they will also pursue the protest in other ways.

However, the BBC's Christian Fraser, in Paris, says the momentum has been with the government for several days now.

The final vote in parliament on Wednesday means pension reform is now inevitable - unless the president performs an unlikely u-turn, he adds.

The unions say the marches in Paris and all the provincial cities will be smaller than those seen in recent weeks.

They blame the half-term school break, but they also know the sprit of the protest has been drained by the unstoppable political process, our correspondent adds.

Rolling strikes and blockades at oil refineries are continuing and are now into a fourth week, continuing to inconvenience travellers and businesses.

Eleven of France's 12 refineries were closed on Wednesday and fuel imports into France have now risen to more than four times their normal levels.

'Unfair'

The National Assembly, France's lower house, voted the bill through by 336 votes for to 233 against.
The upper house, the Senate, backed the bill by 177 votes to 151 on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon sought to draw a line under the protests, urging opponents to respect the will of parliament.

"It was right to have a vigorous debate but the law of the Republic should henceforth be respected by all," he said in a statement.

Jean-Luc Hacquart, a representative of the CGT union in Paris, said he opposed the pension reform because it was "unfair".

"I don't want to work until I'm 67 years old and I don't what my son to be unemployed," he said, speaking at the Grandpuits oil refinery.

"That's why I'm here. It is not legitimate. They do what they want. We knew that this bill would be approved but democracy is not carte blanche given to people who do what they want in-between each election."

Opinion polls suggest that the pension battle has sent Mr Sarkozy's approval ratings to record lows of below 30%, 18 months before the next presidential election.

An Ifop poll taken last week also suggested that 59% of French people opposed the blockade of refineries, road junctions and companies by strikers.