France to raise retirement age?
May 31, 2010 // 0 CommentsUnion protests in France judged too weak to block retirement reform in France
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he will push hard for the pushing back of France’s retirement age during the second half of his term. The move was expected to meet fierce resistance from the French public, but so far, the response has been anemic, possible due to the sobering effect of the the news of the economic crisis that is spreading like wildfire across Europe. Last Thursday, workers prepared a day of protest against the core of Sarkozy’s unspoken but implied austerity program. But French trade unions’ protests failed to rally enough street power against the crucial reform of its costly pension system.
Protests lacking in numbers and conviction
Unions across Europe have called for strikes and protests against austerity measures meant to stem the Greek debt crisis from spreading, but many have been puny at best. A Greek rally last week drew only half the crowd that turned out for the protest on May 5 that was punctuated by riots viewed around the world in mass media. Spanish unions also saw a limited turnout at their last anti-austerity protest. The weak showings seemed to reflect a new state of resignation vis-a-vis the European economic crisis, some media reported. Given the massive coverage of riots in Greece and the plummeting of the euro, even the normally strike-happy unions of France are having a reality-check. French labor leaders are having a hard time justifying outrage over belt-tightening measures that all European countries will probably need to adopt in order to avert total calamity.
Government ministers in France indicated the turnout at Thursday’s protests was too weak to block an increase in the formerly sacred pension age of 60, a trademark reform of the late Socialist President Francois Mitterrand, The ministers said that they would soon present details of the change, though only rumors exist of exactly what age they are planning to propose as the new retirement age in France. Ministers are reportedly not yet sure whether to push it to 62 years, 63 or even higher. However, the French government has made clear any reform would not change the special retirement schemes for transport workers, whose fierce defense of their privilege of retiring as early as 50 or 55 sparked a crippling general transport strike in 1995.
European economic crisis puts writing on the wall for unions
Gripped by the sovereign debt crisis, many of France’s European neighbors have announced massive spending cuts in a bid to curb their mounting deficits and restore stability to the battered euro currency.
While Sarkozy has insisted that his announcement of a three-year spending freeze does not amount to an austerity program, an attack on France’s iconic 60-year retirement age was formerly unthinkable and is now very much on the table. The reduction of the minimum age for workers to receive a full state pension from 65 to 60 was in 1984 one of the key reforms of Socialist president Francois Mitterrand’s government, and remains cherished by the left.
Previous attempts in France in recent years to reform state finances and cut entitlements have been squashed by large-scale protests, but Sarkozy’s supporters insist pension change is essential. Germany has already raised the minimum age for a full state pension to 67 by the year 2029, and many other European countries have begun large-scale budget cuts. France has been slower, putting its faith in a gradual return to growth and a freeze on spending increases.
Statistics show that France will have 18 million retirees by 2030, up from 15.5 million today, and the number will rise to 23 million by mid-century.
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