French union calls for new Paris transport strike on Feb. 17

The leading union at Paris public transport firm RATP has called for a new strike on Monday, Feb. 17, the first day of debate in parliament on the French government's pension reform plan. The Paris public transport system was brought to a virtual standstill for a six-week period from early December 2019 to mid-January as unions protested the government's pension reform, which aims to do away with special regimes under which some people can retire up to a decade earlier than others.

After the transport strike fizzled out, leading union Unsa-RATP formally called off the action on Jan. 18, but unions have continued their protest over pension reform with marches and cutting electricity supplies. "Unsa-RATP restates its unfailing opposition to this reform project and calls on all workers to make Feb. 17 a black Monday for public transport," the union's secretary-general Laurent Djebali said in a statement.

The government hopes to get the reform approved by the summer.