A pension reform bill that includes a rise in the retirement age cleared its first main hurdle on Wednesday when France's lower house approved it after a bitter debate among lawmakers. Several thousand people, led by trade unionists, had converged in front of the National Assembly, brandishing banners and waving scarlet flares demanding a withdrawal of the bill ahead of the vote.
After massive street protests and strikes that disrupted air and rail traffic on September 7, unions have raised the stakes, calling for workers to down tools again on September 23 as the bill winds its way through parliament. The vote took place after a marathon overnight debate and some vitriolic exchanges with 329 members approving the bill and 233 opposing it.
But the vote was never in real question as President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling party retains a comfortable majority in the lower house of parliament. The job of defending the bill went to Labour Minister Eric Woerth, who has been dogged by a political funding scandal and allegations of influence-peddling. One member of the opposition Socialists, who were infuriated by the National Assembly chairman's decision to accelerate the move to a vote, accused Woerth of being a liar. Wednesday's largely symbolic protest coincided with a vote that amounts to the half-way stage to adoption of a bill that many regard as the flagship reform of Sarkozy's five-year term.
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