French president Nicolas Sarkozy moved closer to victory today in his showdown with unions over pension reform, with strikes easing and street marches losing momentum.
Both houses of parliament have approved the bill, and the national assembly signed off on revisions to the text today by 336 votes to 233. The law now needs to be approved by the constitutional council, where a last-minute challenge by the opposition Socialists could mean a delay of a few days.
Mr Sarkozy says his bill to raise the minimum and full retirement ages by two years to 62 and 67 is vital to rein in a growing pension shortfall and safeguard the AAA credit rating that lets France service its debt at the lowest market rates.
Public transport was returning to normal, fuel was leaving depots at five oil refineries and garbage collectors in the southern port city of Marseille cleared heaps of maggot-infested rubbish after ending a two-week walkout.
A separate month-old strike at the Marseille oil port of Fos-Lavera may now become the government's main focus as it is starving the bulk of France's refineries of crude oil, preventing them restarting operations.
Mr Sarkozy has kept a low profile this week as his reform, to make people work two years longer for their pensions, comes close to becoming law. It has provoked some of Europe's fiercest protests against deficit-cutting measures.
CGT union head Bernard Thibault told the daily Liberation in an interview today the battle over pension reform was not over. But he admitted the goal of a new national day of protest tomorrow was not to beat turnout records. Unions have called on airline and rail workers to strike tomorrow, meaning some flights and train services could be affected, but major disruption is not expected.
"We can see that this week marks a change," Labour Minister Erik Woerth, in charge of shepherding the pension bill through parliament, told Canal Plus television today.
Petrol station shortages have eased after the government cleared fuel depot blockades and increased fuel imports.
Unions have called a fresh day of nationwide strikes and street marches tomorrow and another for November 6th. But only a few hundred students turned out for rallies yesterday, and momentum for the protests appears weak.
Workers at an oil terminal at the northern port of Le Havre voted today to extend for another day their strike against pension reform, however, which is keeping crude from reaching northern French refineries.
If the port strikes and street protests end, Mr Sarkozy is expected to try to heal wounds with unions by discussing labour conditions for the young and old.
A study by national statistics institute INSEE published on Wednesday showed that by 2060 one in three French people will be over 60, compared with one in five today, and 200,000 could be over 100, up from 15,000 today.
Reuters