French strikes continue

2007-11-15 16:04

Paris - Transport workers shut down most rail traffic in France for a second full day on Thursday, wearing down passengers who had to postpone trips or walk or bike to work and who faced the same fate for a third day after subway and bus workers voted to continue.

But an end to the transport crisis appeared increasingly likely after President Nicolas Sarkozy took up a union offer for talks - while insisting that his contested plan to do away with special retirement benefits must remain intact.

Heart of reform not negotiable

The walkouts represent the first major union challenge to Sarkozy's plans to modernise France - just as he marks six months in office. He made it clear on Wednesday night that he wanted the strikes to end "as quickly as possible."

Sarkozy agreed to an offer by the powerful CGT union for company by company talks in the presence of a government representative to find a solution. But he also said that the heart of the reform was not negotiable.

Sarkozy wants everyone to work 40 years to obtain full retirement benefits instead of the 37.5 years currently worked by privileged sectors, notably transport and utilities.

"I sincerely believe we have the possibility to get out of this with our heads held high," Labour Minister Xavier Bertrand said on RMC radio. Without tampering with the heart of the reform, there was still room for talks over "very precise" and "very concrete" issues, he said.

Bertrand, in a letter on Wednesday night to seven union chiefs, said negotiations should commence "rapidly" and be completed in a month.

The government awaited a response from the half-dozen unions behind the strikes.

Subway lines virtually shut down

Both the state train authority, the SNCF, where workers began striking from Tuesday night, and the Paris transport system said conditions had improved somewhat Thursday - the second full day of the walkout.

The SNCF said 150 fast trains out of 700 were running on Thursday, compared with 90 the day before, while the RATP, which governs Paris public transport, said that three subway lines were virtually shut down while traffic varied on other lines, with an average of 80% of trains cancelled.

The streets of Paris were clogged with pedestrians and those on bicycles making their way to the office. The city's new rent-a-bike service was popular.

Sarkozy's call for a quick end to the strike suggested that he does not want his reforms to unravel or the walkouts to spread. Paring down the system of special retirement benefits is emblematic of his bid to do away with obsolete practices.

Agreement was seen as breakthrough

Getting all unions to enter talks, while holding firm on the reform, could prove complicated. The head of the Workers Force union, Jean-Claude Mailly, said on Wednesday night that "everything must be on the table."

Sarkozy's agreement to the company by company talks proposed by powerful CGT union boss Bernard Thibault was seen as a breakthrough.

This was the second transport strike in less than a month. An October 18 walkout - more crippling than the current one - was meant as no more than a warning. The current strike, with daily votes on whether to continue, was meant to wear the government down.

- AP