Macron vows to ‘fully carry out’ pension reform in end of year speech
In the traditional presidential end-of-year TV address to the public, Macron said he hoped for a 'quick compromise' with union leaders demanding he abandon the plan.
FrenchFrench president Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that his government would push through a pension overhaul despite fierce protests from unions behind one of the country's biggest transport strikes in decades, reports FRANCE 24.
"The pension reform will be carried out," Macron said in a televised address on New Year’s Eve, saying he hoped for a "quick compromise" with union leaders demanding he abandon the plan. The strike, which has upended travel plans and hit businesses during the holiday season, is proving a key test of Macron's ability to implement his vow to reform France since coming to power in 2017. While most French citizens believe the country’s unwieldy pension system needs an overhaul, opinion is divided on the proposals put up by Macron’s government. France’s powerful unions are demanding the French president drop his plan for a single points-based system and a "pivot age" of 64 to benefit from a full pension, above the official retirement age of 62. The current system has 42 different sector-specific pension schemes, each with different levels of contributions and benefits that includes special benefits for some jobs, such as train drivers, that are considered “difficult”. "We will take into account difficult tasks so that those who do them can leave earlier," Macron said. Macron's call for a "Christmas truce" during the ongoing strike went unheeded, and unions have vowed not to back down ahead of renewed talks with the government set for January 7.
