Focus on pandemic recovery not pension reform, union boss tells Macron
PARIS, July 6 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron should concentrate on France's post-pandemic recovery rather than a quick-fix reform of the country's byzantine pension system, the head of the country's largest union said on Tuesday.
Speaking ahead of a meeting between Macron and unions, Laurent Berger said his moderate, reform-minded CFDT would call for protests after the summer holidays if Macron did not listen.
"Let's focus on the recovery. On the economic front, sure the data looks good, but there are people falling by the wayside: youngsters, the long-term unemployed, people in poverty," Berger told France Info radio.
Pension reform was a central pillar of Macron's drive to create a more flexible and competitive labour market, while also reducing its financial burden on the state coffers. However, his initial proposal infuriated the unions and provoked weeks of protests and transport strikes.
The president has already said in recent weeks that the planned overhaul - replacing dozens of sector-specific regimes with a universal, points-based system - could not go ahead as planned as a result of the pandemic.
But officials have said Macron and his government were exploring new ways to balance France's pension budget should he decide to forge ahead before the end of his mandate in 2022.
One option under consideration is to raise the legal retirement age by two years to 64 - something the government had stopped short of in its now-shelved reform proposal.
Asked what his union's reaction would be to such a move, Berger replied: "We would be in total disagreement and if it were to happen we would mobilise after the summer."
Berger said his union supported a reform that created a fairer pension system, but not one that simply eased pressure on the budget.
France has one of the most generous pension systems among industrialised nations, costing the state about 14% of economic output. (Reporting by Richard Lough; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
