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France goes on strike amid fears for jobs
Peter Allen in Paris29 Jan 2009
A mass one-day walkout by public and private sector employees was expected to paralyse much of France today.
Transport, hospital and education services were hit as hundreds of thousands of workers took to the streets to demand more government action to protect jobs and wages.
Three-quarters of French people and all the main trade unions back the strike. They want President Nicolas Sarkozy to drop cost-cutting reforms and help industry and business more after his bail-out for the banks.
Finance minister Eric Woerth accused the strike organisers of scare-mongering. "There are other ways to make oneself heard than striking," he said.
Air France flights were cancelled and Eurostar services could be hit.
Reader views (3)
Not as docile as the brits are thay?
- Kev, London-UK, 29/01/2009 18:15
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Only 12% of the French workforce belongs to a Trade Union: the unions only have any clout because they affect the day-to-day running of everyone else's lives. Most people who had kids will have had to stay at home today, thus affecting every industry in the country.
- Roz, Chamonix, France, 29/01/2009 16:42
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Not quite sure where the "Three-quarters of French people" backed the strike figure came from. It is not the figure used on the news here in France where more and more people are fed up with being held to ransom by a small minority. (There are less union members in France than the UK.)
- Francis, Rouen, France, 29/01/2009 11:43
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