23 May 2008

PARIS - More than half a million French workers took to the streets on Thursday, unions said, for a one-day show of force against President Nicolas Sarkozy's government over pension reforms.

Major queues of trucks also built up at the Channel port of Calais because of a strike against dock privatisation plans.

Rail workers led the national stoppage, with only half of trains running across France, but commuter chaos was limited in Paris and other big cities, as the unions stuck to new rules on providing minimum service during strikes.

The main CGT union said more than 700,000 people marched in 150 towns and cities across France - well over the target of half a million people. Police estimated the nationwide turnout at just under 300,000.

Tens of thousands of people marched in the capital behind banners reading "Hands off my pension!".

"Unless the government changes its mind, there will be more days like this one," warned CGT leader Bernard Thibault at the head of the Paris march, calling the day "an unquestionable success".

Public sector workers were joined at rallies by factory employees - from Airbus, Renault, Total or Michelin - and dockers angry at privatisation plans, including in Marseille where a strike movement shut down the port.

Walkouts were reported across France with between 10 and 20 percent of postal, utilities and telecoms employees joining the strike, officials said.

And radio shows were replaced by music on public stations France Inter and Radio France Internationale.

France's five main unions are protesting at plans to increase the number of years worked to draw a full pension, from 40 to 41, starting next year.

Written into a reform passed in 2003, the pension changes continue to raise hackles in union ranks. Six in 10 French people back the strike movement, according to one poll.
"The government has to accept real negotiations with the unions," said the CGT's Thibault.

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