In a possible sign of conflicts to come, the center-right government of France's premier Jean-Pierre Raffarin will proceed with pension reductions for 220,000 employees of France's public energy and gas utility companies despite the objections of workers in two of the three unions at the utilities. Seen largely as a means of testing the water before presenting plans for major changes in France's public sector pension in the spring, the current changes were minor in nature but revealed that Mr. Raffarin's divide and conquer strategy of driving a wedge between conciliatory and militant union elements may not prevent a major showdown. The objection to the current changes from at least one of the two opposed unions---the CGT---came after a majority of the union's membership voted to reject the changes in spite of their leadership's support for the measures, and possibly as a sign of the risks that Mr. Raffarin and his government will face if they proceed with further changes.
See ROBERT GRAHAM,, Financial Times, January 12, 2003