PARIS — France’s prime minister said Wednesday that the full retirement age will be increased for the country’s youngest, but offered concessions in an ill-fated effort to calm a nationwide protest against pension reforms that critics say will erode the nation’s way of life.
The government is trying to make the pensions system sustainable and simpler but is facing public pressure, including a week of the most debilitating transport strikes in decades.
Major unions were quick to reject government proposals and vowed to strike on. A moderate union, the CFDT, announced Wednesday night that it would join in a Dec. 17 action day, breaking with its past posture. CFDT leader Laurent Berger said a ”red line” had been crossed with the introduction of an age factor into the plan, the daily Le Monde reported.
The day after more than 300,000 people protested across France, authorities measured a logjam of some 285 miles of traffic in Paris. All metro lines bar two were closed and many train routes remained canceled as unions dig in their heels against President Emmanuel Macron, whom they accuse of shaping policies in favor of the rich.
