French Standoff

Like falling leaves in the Luxembourg Gardens and chestnut hawkers on the Champs-Elysées, public sector strikes are an almost inevitable feature of autumn in France. But this season there is an extra crispness to the recurring collision of labor entitlement and government reform. Unlike any of his recent predecessors, President Nicolas Sarkozy is willing to bet his entire mandate on victory in this decisive show-down with unions. He may, in fact, have little choice.

The current tussle, which halted train travel throughout France and paralyzed Paris in recent days, stems from government plans to raise the retirement age for public-sector employees such as rail and utility workers. That's something successive governments have attempted repeatedly since the '80s, only to be thwarted by union-led opposition. Sarkozy's determination to storm the one bastion labor has successfully defended from creeping reform reflects his electoral promise to "rupture" with France's musty status quo. By launching that assault just six months into his five-year term, Sarkozy grasps how vital a victory in reforming public-sector pensions is to enabling the rest of his modernization program. "We were elected to transform France," Sarkozy said ahead of the strikes, "and will apply these reforms because they must be applied."

Though historically sympathetic to strike movements, most French voters firmly back Sarkozy in this clash with unions. After all, he was elected on an overt promise of sweeping change, giving him greater reformist legitimacy than his more cautious predecessors. Despite the disruption that the recent strikes have caused — and the prospect that they will drag on — polls show Sarkozy holding steady with a 55% approval rating. Yet a further test of will comes on Nov. 20, when hundreds of thousands of state employees are scheduled to protest over 22,000 public-sector job cuts slated for 2008. And more antireform demonstrations will follow. But Sarkozy can draw strength from the immensity of the stakes: he knows that caving in now could mean surrendering the rest of his presidency.