French unions are staging another strike Thursday in response to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s controversial plan to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62.
The strikes and protests are expected to cause major cancellations and delays for rail and air travel in and out of France.
Earlier this month, more than 1 million people protested President Sarkozy’s reform of the pension system.
The bill to increase the minimum retirement age to 62 has passed France’s lower house of parliament and the upper house is set to approve it early next month.
The government says raising the retirement age is necessary so the money losing pension system can break even by 2018.
The French retirement age is among the lowest in Europe. – voanews
