Transport strike begins in France

[frigidmagi]

BBC

Workers in France have begun a strike expected to paralyse the country's transport system, especially the railway network.

The 24-hour strike began on Wednesday at 2000 local time (1800 GMT).

Trade unions called the strike in protest against the reform of special pension schemes enjoyed by a minority of state sector workers.

In the past, transport strikes have caused massive disruption and put pressure on political leaders.

This strike is seen as a key test for President Nicolas Sarkozy as he seeks to push through an agenda of social and economic reform.

National railway company SNCF said only 46 out of 700 high-speed TGV trains would be in normal service.

Eurostar cross-channel trains will also be affected, with eight out of 10 trains running, while other international services will be hit.

Transport links in the Paris region are likely to be severely disrupted, with trade unions saying there would be 25% service or less on many metro, regional train, bus and tram lines.

Pension protest

The strike is scheduled to last 24 hours, but some unions have called for strikes to be extended to Friday or even Saturday.

An extension of the strike could hit spectators heading for the final matches of the Rugby World Cup, held at the Stade de France stadium in a northern suburb of Paris.

Past experience shows that transport strikes in France can have a crippling effect.

Trade unions have called the strikes in protest against government plans to scrap the "special regime" pension system for 500,000 workers in state-controlled companies.

It includes workers at SNCF, electricity company EDF, miners and members of parliament.

Only 6% of pensions fall under the special regime, which allows beneficiaries to retire after 37.5 years worked, compared with 40 years for other public and private sector employees.

The government says the cost to the budget of the special regime will be 5bn euros (£3.48bn) this year.