PARIS — Welcome to France! As my train emerged from the tunnel linking Britain to the European continent, the announcement came: “As a result of a general strike, certain rail and other services will be disrupted.”
Labor unions are mobilized, high school kids are out in force, oil refineries are struggling and more than one million people have taken to the streets as France rises to confront the government’s decision to lift the retirement age to 62 from 60. Yes, you read that right: to 62 (and gradually at that.)
The movement amounts to the broadest social challenge faced by the center-right government of President Nicolas Sarkozy. It comes as European governments from Britain to Spain — and even the lost socialist paradise of Sweden — struggle to refashion cradle-to-grave welfare systems undone by a double whammy: aging baby boomers and plunging post-crash tax revenues.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Op-Ed Columnist - Retirement at 62? Non! - NYTimes.com
Author: ROGER COHEN
