FRANCE: French President Sarkozy is determined to face down French unions

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is resolute on French television about his planned pension reforms. Talking about Iran, he says France does not want war but it is unacceptable for Iran to pursue a military nuclear programme. President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday (September 20) he would not let union protests deter him from plans to end pension privileges awarded to many French state workers. Sarkozy sparked union anger earlier this week by announcing that he would phase out the so-called "special regimes", which allow rail, electricity and gas workers, among others, to retire earlier than their peers in other industries. Looking to adopt a conciliatory tone, Sarkozy said he was ready to negotiate on the timing of the reform, but insisted that he would not cave in to pressure from the street as has been the case with previous French governments. In a French television interview Sarkozy said that now was the time to make decisions about pensions that have not been dealt with in the past few years. "Everyone has to understand that there is no reason why someone who works in metallurgy or a textile worker, a worker from the private sector, contributes for 40 years, when others contribute for 37.5," he said. The special regimes, which were set up after World War Two to reward workers doing particularly arduous jobs, means some people can claim a pension when they are up to 10-years younger than workers in other sectors. Some rail unions have already called a one-day strike for next month to protest against the proposals, but Sarkozy is betting that with most French people in favour of his proposals, the unionists will be forced to negotiate. "The CFDT has decided to take action because of a few problems we can foresee, such as the pension system which is being put into question by the president of the republic, along with other problems, especially with the fret branch of the SNCF and the impact on employment." said the deputy chairman of CFDT railway union Edgar Stemer on Thursday. "Unions are not taking orders from the government. That's something he (Sarkozy) should be reminded of. When someone wants to negotiate, you negotiate, you don't give goals, we are not his subordinates." Stemer added. With Sarkozy also confirming plans for a leaner, more efficient public service that will begin to slim down as 22,700 posts freed up by retirements are left unfilled, the potential for prolonged conflict with the unions clearly exists. "The pensions system in France has to be changed. In ten or fifteen years, we won't able to pay for our pensions. Some workers have a special regime, why not?" said Parisian Bernadette Delmotte. "It doesn't look well thought of, we don't know what he wants to do and above all, what I find annoying in this is that he doesn't take into account the difficulty of people's jobs," said office worker Michel Rascalom. Sarkozy has pledged a complete overhaul of state institutions by the end of his term in 2012. Talking about Iran in Thursday's interview, the President said he did not want a war with Iran over its nuclear programme, but repeated that it would be unacceptable for Tehran to obtain an atom bomb. France has taken a tougher stance against Tehran since Sarkozy came to power in May, and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned at the weekend that the world should "prepare for the worst" over Iran, adding "The worst is war". Sarkozy said at the interview in response to Kouchner's comments that he would not have used the word war himself but that Iran was "a very difficult issue."

ITN Source | September 21, 2007

Tags:. .retire. .conflict. .confirming. .sparked. .sectors