National French Train Strike Oct 18th

[ktpc2005]

France braces for transportation strike

 

The French government warned on Monday that a strike this week against its plan to end special pension benefits will bring public transport to a standstill across the country.

 

"We expect major disruptions," David Martinon, President Nicolas Sarkozy's spokesman, said.

 

Unions representing French train workers have called for a national rail strike Oct. 18 over Sarkozy's plans to bring pensions for transport staff in line with those for other workers. The move will mark the first union challenge to Sarkozy, elected in May on a platform of cutting taxes, reducing the cost of France's pension system and liberalizing labor laws.

"There will hardly be any trains, buses or metros," Labor Minister Xavier Bertrand said on radio station Europe1 on Sunday. "Striking is a constitutional right that I respect, but we are determined to carry out this reform."

SNCF, the national rail company, and RATP, which handles bus and metro services in Paris, said they will start tomorrow to issue statements on how much service they can guarantee.

 

Three weeks of transport strikes that paralyzed cities across France in 1995 ended a previous government's attempt to tackle the so-called "special regimes."

 

 

At issue is the special pension system that allows rail workers and employees of a few other public entities to retire before they turn 55. They were left out of a 2003 effort that raised the number of work-years needed for civil servants to earn a pension to 42 from as few as 37.5.

The Confederation Generale du Travail, the largest union at the SNCF, called on workers in all companies to support the strikers. "The CGT is asking all workers, no matter what company they are in, to consider the implications," the union said in a statement on its Web site.

 

Eurostar, which runs trains between London and Paris, has canceled four trains Oct. 18, and said other trains could be affected. The trains canceled are the 6:22 a.m. and 5:43 p.m. from Paris to London, and the 9:09 a.m. and 4:12 p.m. from London to Paris.

On the following day, Eurostar canceled the 6:22 a.m. from Paris to London, but hasn't canceled any London to Paris trains. Thousands of English rugby fans are expected in Paris next weekend to watch their country's team play South Africa in the final of the Rugby World Cup.

 

Air France-KLM Group, Europe's largest airline, isn't directly touched by the strike because its workers aren't part of any special regimes. No major disturbance to flights is expected, said Air France spokesman Jean-Claude Couturier.

 

Besides the rail system, the special regimes apply to workers at Electricite de France SA, Gaz de France SA, Bank of France, the military, the Paris Opera and the Comedie Francaise.

 

In a poll published Oct. 10 in Les Echos, 53 percent of the people surveyed said the Oct. 18 strike is unjustified while 43 percent were in favour. The newspaper said that 1,002 people were questioned. It didn't give a margin of error.

 

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/15/travel/15strike.php