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The age at which French citizens can receive a full pension should be reduced from 64 to 62, the government's special advisor to the president on pension reform announced on Thursday.
In a report, Jean-Paul Delevoye, said that workers could still retire, as promised by President Emmanuel Macron during his campaign, but that they should work two more years to get a full board without reduction in the new system effect in 2025.
The reform, which aims to unify 42 different pension schemes into a single points-based system, is potentially explosive.
As private pension plans are not widely used in France, most workers draw their pension from the mandatory system guaranteed by the State.
Unions have a history of opposing changes in pensions, often sending millions to the streets to protest.
On Thursday, two extremist unions, FO and CGT, called for a strike on 21 and 24 September.
"This system is all in smoke," said Philippe Martinez, a Communist-backed CGT union leader who has long enjoyed the support of government employees and power plant and railway workers.
"The message we are sending to workers today is that we should mobilize."
Two years after taking office, Macron is eager to revive his reform agenda after months of rebuilding political capital and attempting to quell anti-government "yellow vest" protests.
The movement of the yellow vest began among the provincial workers who camped at the roundabouts to protest against an increase in fuel taxes, wearing the high visibility vest that all French drivers must keep in their car in case of emergency .
The demonstrations spread to the population through political, regional, social and generational divisions, angered by economic injustice and Macron's way of directing France. At its peak, a quarter of a million people marched around France and polls suggested that over 80% of French people supported the move.
Macron, a former business banker, lost little time during the first months of his tenure by revising a strict labor code to facilitate hiring and firing, as employers had long been calling for, as well as tax cuts for investors and would create jobs.
But unemployment insurance reform projects were unveiled only in June, after months of delay, and the government is now working to thoroughly review pension reform. , which should not be pbaded by Parliament before the end of the year.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe took care to signal negotiations with the unions, contrary to the first package of reforms that Macron has pbaded in Parliament through decrees, exasperating even the most reformist unions.
"A new phase of listening and consultation of social partners and citizens will start on this basis," he tweeted.
However, Delevoye is a close ally of Macron and his family say that his recommendations are in line with what the president wants and that the bill is unlikely to change much.
The reform specifically targets the "special pension schemes" of SNCF's state rail operator, the Paris-based RATP metro company and utilities such as EDF, whose Retirement pensions receive 5.5 billion euros ($ 6.2 billion) annually from taxpayers. deficit.
Laurent Berger, leader of the reformist CFDT, the largest union in France, said the recommendations of Mr. Delevoye were "only a report", suggesting that he was waiting for to some flexibility.
"The CFDT will issue an opinion as soon as a bill is presented to us," he said. "This report is only a step."
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