French movement against pension reform loses steam

Although opposition Socialist Party leader Martine Aubrey said "the page of this reform has not been turned," the Rpublique du Centre wrote in an editorial that "this eighth protest rally in two months could be too much."

The government has made some compromises in amendments to favor workers with grueling jobs, people who start working younger than 18 and mother or family with heavy obligations to feed children.

But President Nicolas Sarkozy stands firm on the minimum legal retire age and full pension age of retirement, saying it's crucial to save the state from going bankruptcy.

The bill to prolong French retirement age from 60 to 62 in 2018 and full pension age from 65 to 67 is waiting approval of the Constitutional Council and Sarkozy's formal signature to be implemented.

The government expects the new law to come into effect in November whereas the splitting but still insisting unions called for further mobilization in late November.

The opposition parties and unions say, as the last resort, they will push the Constitutional Council to disallow the bill in its review process due in mid November.