Fact vs Fiction

"....because that Saturday, the Paris transport workers went on strike. And what was this strike about? Job Cuts? Safety Standards? No. The unions were furious that the government had been rumoured to be thinking about considering the possibility of maybe looking into the purely theoretical concept that it might one day (not now, but in, say, eighty years' time) be less able to pay for transport workers to retire at fifty."
-Stephen Clarke 'A Year in the Merde' (fiction)

"This Thursday, today, Paris transport workers went on strike. And what was this strike about? Job cuts? Safety standards? No. All unions in France were furious that someone very very very low down without any power at all whatsoever in the government may have said to a colleague over mid-morning coffee that Sarkozy has been rumoured to be thinking about considering the possibility of maybe looking into the purely theoretical concept that might one day (not now, but in, say, one-thousand years' time) that the French would not be able to retire at sixty and have to work until they were 63, even though that would still be by far the lowest retirement age in the EU and 90% of French retire before they are 60 anyway."
-Dominic Mottram 'A Year Travelling on the RATP' (reality)