22 Oct 2010

French unions announce more national protests

9:50 am on 22 October 2010

French unions have called two more national days of action to protest at the government's pension reforms.

They announced the dates of 28 October and 6 November after a meeting in Paris on Thursday afternoon.

Separately, rolling strikes are continuing against government plans to raise the pension age from 60 to 62.

In Marseille, protesters temporarily blocked access to Marseille airport. Unions say the blockade affected all roads to the terminal.

The city is already crippled by a port blockade and a strike by rubbish collectors, the BBC reports.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for an end to the disruption, saying it could have consequences for jobs by damaging the normal running of economic activity.

Mr Sarkozy says he will press ahead with the unpopular pension plans, which have already been approved by the lower house of parliament and will go to the upper house this week.

Meanwhile, the Senate has curtailed debate on more than 1,000 amendments to the bill and may vote as early as Thursday night, the BBC reports.

The lower house has already approved the bill, which aims to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67.