French unions take on Sarkozy over pensions

By Crispian Balmer

PARIS (Reuters) - French unions staged nationwide protests on Thursday against plans by President Nicolas Sarkozy to make people work longer to qualify for a full pension.

In a rare show of unity, France's five largest unions called on members to take to the streets in dozens of cities to denounce the government's decision to require employees to work 41 years before retiring against 40 years at present.

Early indications suggested that the day of action was having a limited impact, with public transport in France's two main cities, Paris and Lyon, little affected, and most major rail links running without delays.

Schools also remained open, one week after a widely followed strike over cuts in education staffing, meaning it was business as usual for much of France.

However, union leaders said the success of their protest would be measured by how many people turned out for the rallies, with 500,000 expected in Paris alone for the main march.

"The goal for today is not to get everyone out on strike," said Bernard Thibault, head of the powerful CGT union.

"The scale of the protests will show that the government will have to review its plans under pressure," he added.

More than one million people took to the streets during the last such demonstration against pension reform in 2003 and anything less today would weaken the union position.

Besides the pensions protest, Sarkozy also faced disputes in other sectors on Thursday, with port workers striking over plans to privatize part of their industry and fishermen still disrupting shipping in their fight against rising fuel costs.

RISING LIFE EXPECTANCY

A year after Sarkozy was elected on a platform of sweeping economic reforms, his approval rating has tumbled because of concern over the rising cost of living and disapproval over his abrasive, sometimes flashy, style of government.

Unions hope to tap into this discontent and force a U-turn over pensions. But the government insists that rising life expectancy coupled with weak public finances means the pensionable age must rise, as it has elsewhere in Europe.

Looking to appease union anger, it has however committed to keeping the minimum retirement age to 60 against 65 in many of its neighbors, including Britain and Italy.

Opponents say the real problem is that many companies systematically get rid of workers in their 50s, who then collect handsome benefits until they can formally retire, and say the government should tackle this problem first.

But Sarkozy shows little sign of backing down, and has promised to unleash a fresh wave of reforms to improve the efficiency of the spendthrift state in the coming months.