The Hindu : International : Public sector strike paralyses France

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Friday, Nov 16, 2007
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International

Public sector strike paralyses France

Vaiju Naravane

Railway, electric and gas workers protest Sarkozy’s reform plans

— Photo: AP

STOPPED IN ITS TRACKS: Railway workers block a high-speed TGV train in the railway station of Toulouse, southwestern France, on Thursday.

Etampes (suburban Paris): It is 7.30 a.m. and Corrine Malcoiffe is shivering in the unusually cold weather. She arrived at the station at 6 a.m. only to find it closed despite the railway website’s assurance that three trains would be in service. “I could not go to work yesterday – not a single train left from this station. And it now looks like I shall miss a second day’s work, and a second day’s pay which I simply cannot afford, what with Christmas around the corner,” she says, her eyes misting over.

Ms Malcoiffe lives 11 km from the station at Etampes, some 45 km outside Paris. The railway connection is her lifeline. With France paralysed by a series of strikes in the public sector for the second day running, Ms. Malcoiffe finds herself, like millions of other workers, totally stranded, “a hostage in the hands of the strikers”.

The government and unions on Thursday moved to resume talks in order to avoid a drawn-out confrontation over President Nicolas Sarkozy’s reforms.

The work stoppage came against a background of heightened social tension, with students stepping up their two-week protest against a university reform law and civil servants preparing to walk off the job.

The few trains and underground metro cars that were in service rolled into their stations already jam-packed with commuters and passengers had to fight their way into and off the compartments. “For God’s sake, let us get out,” shouted one petite woman who pushed her way through the compact crowd at the Montparnasse station in southern Paris.

While there were fewer disruptions than the previous day, commuter train services remained sporadic in the Paris region, with one or two trains per hour, while Paris metro lines were running at about 30 per cent.

Some 150 of the usual 700 TGV high-speed trains were in operation. The Eurostar service to London was unaffected. Major roads in the Paris region were clogged with more than 300 km of traffic jams reported early on Thursday.

Rail workers walked off the job on Tuesday evening to protest Mr. Sarkozy’s plan to scrap pension privileges and they were joined on Wednesday by the Paris metro and the national electric and gas utilities. But hopes for a breakthrough brightened on Wednesday when Mr. Sarkozy agreed to a union proposal to hold three-way negotiations between the government, transport companies and unions.

“The conflict must end as soon as possible, in the interest of travellers,” said presidential spokesman David Martinon.

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