- Title: FRANCE: French strike bites despite moves towards talks.
- Date: 16th November 2007
- Summary: PEOPLE WAITING FOR BUS TO ARRIVE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING
- Embargoed: 1st December 2007 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: Domestic Politics,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVACM4XN9GBEZK9W3RLZZ3C9538O
- Story Text: French commuters struggle to work and back home on the second day of a crippling strike that threatens to cause further disruptions.
A strike by French transport workers which entered a second day on Thursday (November 15), caused massive train delays, kept bus services to a minimum and frustrated commuters for a second day in a row.
French commuters struggled to get to work and return to their homes as transport unions continued to paralyse Paris and other cities, causing widespread disruption despite moves by the government and unions to launch negotiations over contested pension reform.
France's SNCF railway company said less than half its staff were on strike, compared to more than 60 percent on Wednesday, but workers from the largest rail union, the CGT, voted to continue the strike until at least Friday (November 16) morning.
"A very bad day - wake up at 5.30 in the morning, 3 hours to get to work instead of 50 minutes and now tonight I don't what else is to come this evening," said Joel, a commuter.
"Nothing good. Let people who want to work, work. Don't bother us anymore please!" she added after hearing the strike would continue on Friday.
CGT workers at the Paris transport authority RATP also voted to stay away from work.
In Paris, commuters again were forced to jump on their bikes, scooters, roller blades and any other attainable means of transport to help them move around the city.
Although slightly more trains, buses and metro trains were operating on Thursday, many workers struggled to reach their office and get back to their homes for a second day running and traffic jams clogged roads leading into and out of Paris.
The strike is the biggest test yet for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was elected on a pledge to do away with the special pension regimes, which allow some state sector employees to retire after 37.5 years of work against 40 years for everyone else.
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