French PM offers to meet opposition and unions amid pension crisis

After the government passed the legislation without a final vote, protests against the pension reform which will raise retirement age by two years turned violent.

President Emmanuel Macron has ruled it out. He also tasked his prime minister with finding new support in parliament after the government failed get enough votes to pass the bill.

Borne will meet with leaders of political parties and also wants to restart dialogue between unions about labour issues, her office stated. However, she did not mention the pension bill.

Interview with AFP: Prime Minister added that meetings with union leaders and opposition leaders would be held in the week beginning April 3.

She also promised not to use her constitutional power to adopt legislation without a second vote, except on budget bills, AFP reported.

It is not clear if the government's attempts to ease the pension crisis and placate demonstrators who were frustrated by the lack of a final vote on the legislation, it will be able to calm the majority of those opposed to the reform.

After the violent clashes with police last Thursday (23 March), unions have set today (28 March) as the 10th day for nationwide protests against the pension laws.

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Laurent Berger (head of the CFDT union) suggested last week that Macron pause the law's implementation for six months in order to find a compromise.

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