French Parliament to Vote on Sarkozy’s Pension Bill

France’s Parliament is set today for the final vote on President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension bill to raise the minimum retirement age to 62 from 60, while labor unions prepare for a new day of strikes and protests tomorrow.sale moncler

“I am convinced that this reform will unite us eventually,” Labor Minister Eric Woerth told lawmakers at the National Assembly yesterday. “Most of our opponents will eventually consider that the law is a big step forward to preserve our social model.”

The bill, which also increases the age for a full pension by two years from 65, would bring France closer to Germany and the U.S., which are moving toward setting 67 as the full- retirement age, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Senate passed the bill by 177 votes to 151 yesterday. While Sarkozy wants to enact the law on Nov. 15, France’s Constitutional Court may need more time to review it.

Labor unions said the protests and strikes over the bill, which have left the country crippled with fuel shortages and public transport disruptions, are far from over. They have called for strikes and marches tomorrow and more demonstrations on Nov. 6. Unions at French airlines and air traffic controllers have called for separate strike on Nov. 4 to protest the bill.moncler online

Airline, Rail Disruptions

“Voted or not, this problem isn’t over,” said Bernard Thibault, head of the CGT union. “Most of the unions that have suspended the strike are calling for a new rendezvous tomorrow,” he told Liberation newspaper today.

Workers held their first strike on Sept. 7 when the National Assembly started debating the bill. Since then strikes and demonstrations have disrupted airlines and trains and brought about a million protesters to the streets during demonstrations. Blockades at oil depots left almost half the country’s service stations with shortages of some fuel products.

Protests eased yesterday as a quarter of France’s oil refinery workers agreed to go back to work and garbage collectors ended a 14-day walkout in Marseille. About 300 students demonstrated in front of the Senate yesterday. Students have been concerned that an extension of the retirement age will mean fewer jobs for them.moncler shop

Crude Oil Shortages

France’s eight remaining active refineries are either on strike or shut because of a lack of crude oil. Workers at the six Total SA refineries on strike will vote Oct. 29 whether to continue striking.

“We’ve always said we don’t want to blockade the country, and once the bill has passed parliament our opposition will take other forms,” Francois Pelegrina, a representative at Total SA for the CFDT union, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

The risk premium on French bonds decreased. Investors demanded 37 basis points more to buy 10-year French bonds than comparable German securities, against about 41 basis points on Oct. 12. The spreads were at 30 basis points on Sept. 6.

The protests and strikes cost the country between 200 million euros and 400 million euros ($280 million to $560 million) a day, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Oct. 25.

“The economy needs to function and to do that we need an end to these blockages,” she said on Radio Classique yesterday. She said the strikes won’t result in the government changing its growth forecast for this year.

Sarkozy’s two-month battle with unions and workers has hurt his popularity, which fell to a record low this month, with less than a third of those questioned approving his performance, an Ifop survey for the Journal du Dimanche showed Oct. 24. His approval rating fell to 29 percent, against 32 percent in September, the lowest since his May 2007 election.moncler jackets

System Bust

The government says the pension changes are needed to help France cope with an aging population and balance the pension system’s budget by 2018.

The overhaul is part of the broader government struggle to cut the budget deficit. This year the gap will stand at 7.7 percent of gross domestic product, and Sarkozy’s ministers plan to narrow it to 6 percent, or 92 billion euros, next year.

Francois Chereque, secretary general of the CFDT union, and Laurence Parisot, head of the business lobby Medef, agreed that once the pension bill has become law, unions and businesses should gather to discuss employment. Prime Minister Francois Fillon said yesterday the government will do the same.

Meanwhile, protests against the bill still have widespread support, polls show. An Ifop institute poll for Ouest-France Dimanche newspaper showed that 63 percent of respondents supported the call for strikes on Oct. 28. That compares with 71 percent support before the previous strike on Oct. 12.

The same poll also found that 59 percent of the French say it’s unacceptable for strikers to block fuel depots or roads. The poll was conducted Oct. 21 and 22, with 956 respondents. Paris-based Ifop didn’t publish margins of error.moncler outlet