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Following large protest marches over pension reforms, the labor unions in France agreed today to call another day of strikes and protests on September 23, raising the stakes in the showdown with Nicolas Sarkozy. The French president promised that the pension reform bill now before parliament could be tweaked to account for special cases but he refused to budge on the core elements of the reform. Anita Elash reports. Download MP3

• BBC video: Strike over French pension reforms

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman. This is The World. President Obama traveled to Ohio today to deliver his latest economic message to the nation. The president addressed a crowd in Cleveland, the same place where House Republican leader John Boehner ridiculed his economic policies a few days ago. Mr. Obama jumped right in, dismissing Republican proposals to extend current tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. But he also talked about expanding tax breaks for US businesses that invest here at home.

BARACK OBAMA:  Instead of tax loopholes that incentivize investments in overseas jobs, I’m proposing a more generous permanent extension of the tax credit that goes to companies for all the research and innovation they do right here in Ohio. Right here in the United States of America.

WERMAN:  The US economy’s lack-luster recovery is a political threat for President Obama, with Congressional elections looming. But Mr. Obama is hardly the only political leader in the world under such pressure. Today, French President Nicolas Sarkozy responded to the hundreds of thousands who protested yesterday to demand that he back down on planned reforms to the country’s pension system. His answer, “Oui, mais non.”  “Yes, but no.”  Anita Elash reports.

ANITA ELASH: After meeting with his cabinet this morning, President Sarkozy issued a written statement. It said he was “attentive to the worries that had been voiced” and that there would be some minor changes. But there’s no way he’d back down on a plan to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62. Government spokesman Luc Chatel explains.

SPEAKING FRENCH

ELASH: Chatel says the president was very clear. The heart of the reform is not negotiable. He says that if the government concedes on the minimum age, then the entire reform falls apart, so there’s no question of touching it. Sarkozy did agree to be more flexible in some cases. People who started work before age 18 would still be allowed a full pension when they turn 60. So would workers who can prove to a medical board that they are partly incapacitated. But Jean-Claude Mailly, head of one of France’s biggest unions, says the changes don’t go nearly far enough.

SPEAKING FRENCH

JEAN-CLAUDE MAILLY: We’re following two different paths of logic. The government is driven by a political logic, and a financial one driven by the economic crisis. And that’s what’s not working. What were people saying yesterday in the demonstrations? They just don’t want to work for more years. There’s this feeling of injustice that has developed.

ELASH: If the reforms go through, France will still have one of the lowest minimum retirement ages in Europe. But many French regard retiring at 60 as a basic social right. Mailly and others argue it’s not the luxury it seems because in order to qualify, workers will have to have worked and contributed to the state pension plan for 42 years. Union leaders say they’re not ready to back down either. The turnout at yesterday’s protests was far bigger than expected. Now unions say they may call another strike, on the September 18 weekend to allow private sector workers to participate. Reuters columnist Pierre Briancon says that could make it hard for Sarkozy to hold his ground.

PIERRE BRIANCON: If this keeps repeating, like the unions are threatening to do. If, say, every week or every other week you have another big strike, with or without demonstrations, then the government will have a problem because it eats away at their own credibility.

ELASH:  It’s not clear if the government would reconsider. Sarkozy’s platform of change has been popular and he wants to polish his image as a reformer. But mass protests are usually taken seriously in France. Extended strikes have already forced previous governments to abandon pension reforms three times. For The World, I’m Anita Elash in Paris.

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