French unions meet government as pension strikes continue
The French government and unions are to face-off over controversial pension reforms, 14 days into a crippling transport strike that has damaged businesses, frustrated commuters and cast a shadow over holiday plans.
After hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on Tuesday, both sides stood firm prior to a series of meetings. Government officials have previously said they were ready to negotiate.
Union leaders have vowed to continue their action into the new year as the government defended its plan to forge the country’s 42 pension schemes into a single, points-based system.
With attitudes appearing to harden, the CGT union claimed it had cut electricity on Tuesday to tens of thousands of homes in the Gironde department in the south-west and the cities of Lyon, Nantes and Orléans, and about 2,000 households in Paris.
At a meeting late on Tuesday, four unions including the CGT decided to continue their action, which has wreaked havoc on public transport in Paris and other cities, hobbled regional and international trains, and grounded planes on some strike days.
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