French general strike to extend into 2020
Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Paris
France is heading into its third weekend of a general strike, and the official start of its Christmas vacation period with new certainties that the strike will continue into 2020.
Only one minor union will stop striking over the holidays. That means the majority of public transport will remain inoperable, forcing many to rethink their vacation plans, while many strikers will have far less money for any festivities at all.
This week the government of President Emmanuel Macron finally accepted to meet with unions for discussions, but no progress was made. The government is still covered in scandal after corruption allegations forced the resignation of the architect of the pension reform, the cause of the strike.
Macron’s one-size-fits-all' pension system would be a world’s first - it includes a back-door raising of the retirement age, and by putting the entire burden on people born after 1975, it sets up long-term generational conflict.
Talks between the government and unions will not resume until next year, with the next day of nationwide protests not until January 9th. After 16 days of strikes, businesses in Paris are down 30%.
Polls show the strike is still supported by over 60% of the country. Only Macron’s hard-core base and a portion of the elderly - who will not be affected by the pension rollback - express disapproval for the social movement.
Polls also show that the French public is increasingly against an unprecedented universal pension system. The details were only finally unveiled last week, to near-total political and union condemnation.
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