French unions kept up pressure on President Emmanuel Macron to abandon his pension reform plans with a fourth day of demonstrations across the country Thursday, while the government said a compromise may be in sight.
Mr. Macron's plan to replace 42 different pension regimes with a single, points-based system and raise the age for a full pension to 64 from 62, has triggered strikes that entered their 36th day — a record for the transport sector.
"The mobilization is still there, and the anger, too," said Philippe Martinez, head of the far-left CGT union, which wants the government to abandon its proposals, on Europe 1 radio. "This reform is bad. We have propositions. We want to improve the current system. There are two conflicting plans. We're not against everything."
The CFDT union, which supports a universal points-based pension system, repeated its opposition Thursday to the age increase. "If the retirement age remains in the law, it's no," CFDT head Laurent Berger told the AFP news agency.
Following a proposal by the CFDT, the government is planning to meet with unions again on Friday to discuss a financing conference as it seeks to find a way to balance the cost of the pension system.
