Hopes of a holiday truce were dashed after talks between the government and union leaders this week failed to ease the standoff, with train operator SNCF warning of massive cancellations ahead of the holidays.
Taxi companies in Paris had already stopped taking Friday reservations early this week as many metro lines remain shut, while Twitter is awash with irate Uber users forced to pay two to three times normal rates. Although the moderate UNSA union agreed, the hard-line CGT and Force Ouvrier unions said they would not let up.
But while some unions support a single system, almost all reject a new “pivot age” of 64 — beyond the legal retirement age of 62 — which workers would have to reach in order to get a full pension.
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