French commuters struggled to work for a second day yesterday as rail unions extended a nationwide transport strike aimed at forcing President Nicolas Sarkozy to back down over pension reforms.
Even as Sarkozy appealed for an end to the stoppage, unions again shut down most of the nation's rail network, as well as the Paris metro, forcing commuters in the capital to drive, cycle, walk or even rollerblade to the office.
National rail operator SNCF said it expected only 150 of the usual 700 TGV fast trains that link France's major cities to operate yesterday.
PHOTO: AP
The six rail and four metro unions announced late on Wednesday that the action, which began on Tuesday evening, would continue at least another 24 hours.
"So long as there are no new elements, we are for continuing the dispute," said Bernard Thibault, leader of the CGT union.
But the leader of the CFDT union, Francois Cherequem, said guarantees offered by French Labor Minister Francois Bertrand meant it might be possible to suspend the strike. His union was one of those that voted to continue the stoppage into yesterday.
Bertrand appeared to take a step toward the unions late on Wednesday in a letter proposing another month of talks with rail management, but with government representatives involved as requested by the CGT.
Sarkozy had asked Bertrand to send out the letter after his minister held a series of talks on Tuesday and Wednesday to try to end the dispute.
"The president has always considered that there was more to gain for all parties in negotiation than in conflict," said David Martinon, Sarkozy's spokesman.
The strike should stop "as soon as possible for the sake of the passengers," he said.
In Paris, several lines of the metro system were at a standstill while others were running at about 25 percent capacity, and rail links to Paris' airports were practically non-existent.
The government has said it will not budge from plans to overhaul the so-called "special" pension system enjoyed by 1.6 million rail, energy and other workers.
Invoking social equity, Sarkozy has begun moves to lengthen contribution periods for these workers from 37.5 years to 40, closer to other public and private sector employees. Currently some railway staff can retire on a full pension at 50.
Singers at the Paris opera and actors at the Comedie Francaise, who also enjoy "special" pensions, forced the cancelation of performances on Wednesday.
The strike came against a background of heightened social tension in the country, with students protesting against a university reform law and magistrates up in arms against plans to reorganize the court system.
Meanwhile, Sarkozy's close ally Prime Minister Francois Fillon called on unions to "call off a strike which serves no purpose, which will never achieve anything for anyone and which is inconveniencing thousands of French people."
Several newspapers, including the left-wing daily Liberation, have predicted that the strike could end quicker than expected, arguing that it was not in the unions' interests to push too hard.
While the government has said it will stand firm on the principle of lengthening contribution periods, it could help the SNCF and other employers provide salary incentives to affected workers.
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to mark the first anniversary of floods that killed 229 people and to denounce the handling of the disaster. Demonstrators, many carrying photos of the victims, called on regional government head Carlos Mazon to resign over what they said was the slow response to one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. “People are still really angry,” said Rosa Cerros, a 42-year-old government worker who took part with her husband and two young daughters. “Why weren’t people evacuated? Its incomprehensible,” she said. Mazon’s
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
RSS