■ France
Countrywide strike looms
Much of France will grind to a halt tomorrow as trade unions stage a show of strength against the center-right government's program of reforms for the country's creaking pensions system. Air travel and bus and train services are expected to be severely disrupted, strikes are planned by postal, telecommunications, gas and electricity workers and teachers, and more than a hundred demonstrations will take place across the country. In what is shaping into the first major test for Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, all the main unions have vociferously rejected a bill to be presented shortly to parliament under which the country's "pay-as-you-go" pensions system will be adapted to face the new challenge of a rapidly aging population.
Agencies
RSS