Striking Workers Slow France To A Crawl
Striking transit workers slowed France to a crawl Wednesday, taking on President Nicolas Sarkozy in a pivotal standoff over his bid to strip away labor protections he says are stifling growth.
Union members also struck power companies, hospitals, and schools.
However, "there appears to be a tiptoeing toward a solution, in the form of negotiations," reports CBS News producer Bob Albertson. Top-level talks were being held, and Sarkozy has told Labor Minister Labor Minister Xavier Bertrand to inform the unions in writing how tri-partite talks involving the unions, government and public enterprises will be held.
Nevertheless, despite these high-level contacts and a real effort to move to negotiations, leading union representatives indicated Wednesday mid-afternoon that the railroad and Paris transport system strikes will continue into Thursday, reports Albertson.
As Paris commuters snaked through traffic on children's scooters and university students blockaded classes to protest Sarkozy's reforms, the key question was how long the strikers would hold out against the determined president.
Unlike the scattered strikes that have long dogged France, this labor action is a decisive test of Sarkozy's campaign promise to make the country more competitive. Sarkozy has made this a personal fight to prove that France is reformable, and if he triumphs, the long-powerful trade unions may be deeply scarred.
The strikes started Tuesday night when the SNCF rail authority halted service on most of its lines. Many railroads around the country stood empty Wednesday, with just 90 of 700 trains running. Unions are protesting plans to raise the retirement age for some 500,000 public sector workers.
Paris transit workers joined in Wednesday morning, and paper signs reading "No Service" dangled at subway stations and bus and tram stops in the capital. The highway circling the city was jammed with vehicle traffic from before dawn, as many commuters drove to work. Others walked or used the city's popular new rent-a-bike system.
"I brought my rollerblades in case, because I know that people were jumping on Velibs (rental bicycles) during the last strike, so I thought it might not be the best solution," said one commuter. "Chances are, I won't be able to return my Velib so I may use my rollerblades to go back home."
Gas and electricity workers went on strike Wednesday, too, threatening targeted blackouts to illustrate their grievances over the retirement reform.
Opinion polls suggest Sarkozy has the public on his side, as most agree with his arguments that the retirement rules are outdated, unfair and too costly.
"I agree with the reforms but Sarkozy is going too quickly," said Vidal Madou, who expected to spend more than an hour to make the usual 30-minute trip to the construction materials store where he works.
Some commuters complained that they were being held hostage by the strikers. Others blamed Sarkozy for the walkout, saying he was ramming through change.
"This strike bothers everybody," said a Parisian. "I think there are ways to have union demands without annoying all French people who want to go to work."
The head of one of the toughest unions, CGT-Cheminots, dismissed any mention of concessions. "The ball is in the government's camp," its general secretary Didier le Reste said early Wednesday.
But after meetings with Bertrand, the head of the more moderate CFTC union, Jacques Voisin, expressed "very measured optimism" that the government could offer negotiations that would lead to an end of the strike.
Although, Sarkozy aide Henri Guaino warned on LCI television Wednesday that if this reform is jettisoned, "all the reforms will be compromised."
University students and other workers are also putting pressure on Sarkozy's conservative government as it plans a volley of cost-cutting reforms, from trimming bureaucracy to shuttering courthouses and allowing universities to charge tuition and attract private funding.
Students blocked some entrances to the renowned Sorbonne campus of the University of Paris on Wednesday, prompting tensions with rival students and professors trying to push their way into school.
"I find it abominable and above all absurd ... it's a confused movement that's mixing everything," said Laurent Susini, a professor of French.
In recent days, riot police have clashed with student protesters at other schools over the university reform. Vans of riot police stood guard at Paris train stations on Wednesday, after student threats to block train tracks in protest.
The head of the main employers' association, Medef, called the strike embarrassing to France's global image. Laurence Parisot urged the French to "abandon this taste, which I think is a bit masochist, for conflict, for struggle."