Q+A-French unions take to streets to fight reforms

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PARIS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - French trade unions have called for a massive nationwide strike and street protest on Sept. 7 to oppose a pension reform bill.

Before that, street protests have been called for Sept. 4 over President Nicolas Sarkozy's security policy.

Here is a primer on the issues at stake:

WHEN ARE THE PROTESTS HAPPENING AND WHO IS BEHIND THEM?

Sept 4:

Some 30 civil rights groups and left-wing political organisations will begin the week's anti-government protests with a rally in Paris to denounce President Nicolas Sarkozy's latest measures on crime and security.

Critics have called the moves, which include revocation of French nationality for immigrants convicted of attacks on police and the repatriation of thousands of Roma to eastern Europe, a ploy to boost Sarkozy's flagging popularity before elections in 2012 and divert attention from the pension reform and spending cuts.

Sept 6/7:

Seven trade unions, including the powerful CGT and CFDT, have issued a joint call for nationwide strikes and street protests on Sept. 7. Several are calling for 24-hour stoppages from 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Sept. 6, notably at the state railways. Unions in the private sector representing Air France (AIRF.PA), France Telecom (FTE.PA) and energy firms such as EDF (EDF.PA) have urged staff to stop work. Hospital unions are asking emergency ward staff to ensure only minimum services.

Some minor unions at the SNCF state railways and two unions at the RATP Paris urban transport company have called for an open-ended strike rather than the 24-hour stoppage.

The unions have picked Sept. 7 as the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, begins debating the pension reform on that day. It will only spend a few days on the bill before voting and the government hopes to have the reform passed by both the lower and upper houses of parliament before end-October.

WHY ARE UNIONS AGAINST THE REFORM?

The government unveiled its planned overhaul of the pay-as-you-go pensions regime in mid-June. Most of the unions agreed to discuss the draft reform with the government in the hope of winning major concessions. However, the crux of the text, spearheaded by Labour Minister Eric Woerth, who has been tainted by a political scandal, remains.

The government will not budge on its core decision to raise the retirement age to 62 from 60 by 2018 -- one of the main gripes for the unions -- or its move to make people work at least 41.5 years before they can retire on a full pension.

Unions and opposition parties deem the reform unjust and a burden on workers that would increase inequalities in society without resolving the country's ballooning budget deficit, equivalent to around 8 percent of Gross Domestic Product.

The government will make concessions in three areas: for people in arduous jobs, those who started work in their teens and those with a mixed record of public and private sector employment.

WHAT ARE THE UNIONS ASKING FOR?

The seven unions have not explicitly asked for the draft bill to be scrapped, suggesting there may still be some room to manoeuvre. Time is running out as the government's end-of-October deadline approaches. The Force Ouvriere, the most strident union, wants the bill to be scrapped completely.

Discussions could still focus on specific reforms aimed at the public sector. The government has said civil servants, who now pay 7.85 percent of their salary in pension contributions, will see that rise to the 10.55 percent paid by private sector employees by 2020. The public sector tends to be more militant than the private sector.

HOW WILL SUCCESS/FAILURE BE MEASURED?

Sarkozy will have to handle the strikes diplomatically. On the one hand, the reform must go through to help balance the country's finances, reassure investors of the country's commitment to cutting the budget deficit and ensure it keeps its treasured AAA debt rating. However, with presidential elections looming, Sarkozy can ill afford to alleniate too many voters at a time when his popularity is at record lows.

The unions will need to mobilise many strikers. The last round of strikes in June saw a rise in protesters, with the unions estimating about 2 million at some 200 rallies and official figures suggesting about 800,000. The unions anticipate 2 million people will take part this time. Anything less will be a sign of failure.

Unions will also be looking carefully at how much support they get from the private sector. Any sign of big backing from private firms' staff would be bad news for the government, but analysts say the economic downturn and employment fears that go with it may limit private sector participation.

WHAT IMPACT HAVE PREVIOUS STRIKES HAD?

France has a long tradition of protest and the national mood is glum. Some previous governments have failed miserably to push through pension and labour reform.

In 1995, strikes paralysed France after the then prime minister, Alain Juppe, tried to overhaul the system. He had to retreat and soon afterwards lost power.

In contrast, the 2003 conservative government passed a pension reform despite street clashes and general strikes. "It's not the street that governs," Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said at the time.

The government is looking to dampen student representation. Mass student protests that turned violent in 2006 forced the previous government of President Jacques Chirac to ditch a labour reform targeting young people.

Sarkozy abandoned plans to cut education subsidies last week in a move that may soften student support for the protests on Sept. 7.

Sarkozy has previously stood his ground against massive strikes. In November 2007, the country was crippled for nine days after railworkers walked out, opposed to a plan to bring their retirement age in line with the rest of the country.

Despite costing the economy more than 400 million euros a day, Sarkozy stood firm and with the majority of the public opposing the strikes, unions eventually agreed to thrash out a deal with the government.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE STRIKES?

Unions are set to meet on Sept. 8 to consider further steps if the government refuses to budge, aware that Sarkozy is also racing to unveil his budget before the end of September.

The unions are likely to discuss joining a Europe-wide day of action on Sept. 29 against government spending cuts to coincide with a European finance ministers' meeting.

(For stories on the pension reform, double click on [FRANCEPROTEST]; For a factbox on the reform proposals, double click on [ID:nLDE65912R]) (Reporting by John Irish; editing by Brian Love and Mark Trevelyan)