French Strikes Disrupt Air and Rail Travel

By MATTHEW SALTMARSH

Published: October 12, 2010

PARIS — The confrontation between the French government and unions over plans to reform the pension system intensified on Tuesday as transport and energy workers, teachers and civil servants went on strike across the country.
Unions in some sectors — including transport, ports and power — have toughened their stance, threatening to prolong the strikes. They have given local chapters the authority to decide on a daily basis whether to renew the action. Unions have also called another day of demonstrations on Saturday.
On Tuesday, according to the national train operator S.N.C.F, intercity trains to Paris were running at only one-third of normal frequency, while rural services were more seriously disrupted.
The service was normal on the Eurostar trains to London, and trains to Belgium and Germany were running at two-thirds of normal schedules.
The RER commuter trains into Paris were running at under 50 percent, while there were also disruptions on the Paris subway and bus system.
Airports were predicting significant disruption to flights as air traffic controllers and Air France staff joined the walkout. At Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Beauvais airports, 30 percent of flights were expected to be canceled, and about 50 percent at Orly. Long-haul flights were expected to be maintained, however.
Unions at ports, refineries, the chemical industry and representing civil servants, postal and communication workers and in education have also given the go-ahead for action.
News reports citing union officials suggested power output at Électricité de France’s nuclear plants had declined and said that workers at 7 of the country’s 12 refineries had voted to strike, stemming deliveries to and from sites and curbing refining rates.
An ongoing strike at oil terminals in Marseille continued Tuesday, prompting concerns about fuel shortages, notably on the island of Corsica, which is supplied from the mainland but is receiving fuel through Italy and Spain.
Students were also mobilizing. A national union of high school students called on its members to take to the streets or block campuses.
Opposition to the government appeared to be spreading. Tuesday represented the fourth day of protest against the legislation since the end of the summer break.
Unions described Tuesday’s action as a defining phase in the struggle over pensions, predicting a bigger turnout than in similar protests last month. Large numbers of protesters were expected to take to the streets to demonstrate across the country.
Demonstrations in Paris were due to begin around midday and were already under way in other parts of the country.
Estelle Wanou, a spokeswoman for one of the major unions, the Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens, said initial estimates from smaller cities like Orléans, Bordeaux and Tours pointed to a major turnout.
“We’re speaking about really, really big crowds,” she said.
There was no immediate comment from police representatives on numbers involved.
The government and the unions are in a showdown over the changes to the pension system, which President Nicolas Sarkozy has made a cornerstone of his fiscal policy.
The government is seeking to retain its top credit rating by showing it is serious about reining in spending and borrowing. The pension system alone is forecast to have a deficit of $39 billion this year. That figure will surge unless changes are made.
Faced with widespread anger, Mr. Sarkozy has offered some concessions — for example, last week he proposed softening the rules for women in their fifties who stopped work to bring up at least three children. The government said this would cost about $4.8 billion and would be financed by higher capital gains tax on property sales.
Unions have described the offer as insufficient and hope that the fresh action will force the government back to the bargaining table. The government has insisted that the central change — raising the minimum retirement age — cannot be negotiated.
Late Monday, the Senate, the upper house of the legislature, voted to raise the age of retirement with a full pension to 67 from 65, having already agreed to increase the minimum legal retirement age to 62 from 60. Senators from the opposition Socialist Party still hope to slow full adoption of the package through amendments.
Last month the lower house voted to raise the minimum pension age to 62.