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Talks on to end French strike

Paris: Talks got underway on Wednesday between striking French rail sector employees, the government and railway officials even as several cases of “concerted sabotage” of railway lines took place amid warnings by President Nicolas Sarkozy that he would “neither surrender nor retreat”.

In a speech to French mayors broadcast live nationwide, Mr. Sarkozy said: “Let there be no doubt. What needs to be done will be done. What needs to be accomplished will be accomplished. The French elected me to do it, and I will not betray them.” However, he did not spell out the measures he might take if the strike continued.

Traffic remained disrupted although increasing numbers of workers were said to be reporting to work. The state-owned rail operator SNCF said there was a “coordinated campaign of sabotage” in the early hours of Wednesday, with signalling cables set on fire in several places on TGV lines.

Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau condemned “these grave and reprehensible acts” of violence. “What is totally unacceptable is their apparent coordinated nature,” he said.

The violence was also decried by union leaders who have often found themselves at odds with the more hardline rank and file in this stand-off.

Ministers have said they will not yield on the core of the reform which is to increase contribution periods for the 500,000 beneficiaries of the “special” pensions system so that they fall in line with the rest of the population. Currently, they retire two and a half years earlier.

But the government has suggested salary rises and top-up pension schemes could sweeten the pill, and the SNCF management has said a €90-million a year financial package is available if the strikers return to work.

On Tuesday, Mr. Sarkozy vowed to stand by his economic reforms and urged strikers to return to work.

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