French woes ease after strike ends
French transport networks have started returning to normal after union workers voted to end a nine-day strike.
The strike wound up on Friday after unions agreed to hold talks on pension changes proposed by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president.
Transport services are gradually returning to normal
Services on the national rail network and the Paris underground continued to improve as staff returned to work.
RATP, the Paris public transport firm said it expected 70 per cent of Metro trains to be running on Friday, with bus services and trams running at 75 per cent and 80 per cent.
Normality returning
State owned rail operator SNCF said it expects high-speed TGV rail links between Paris and other cities to be running normally but only one in two TGV trains linking cities other than Paris would be running.
However, disruption was likely to last throughout the weekend.
Raymond Soubie, Sarkozy’s aide for social affairs, told French broadcaster Europe-1 Radio: “The worst of the crisis is over.”
Pockets of resistance remained but the majority of the voters agreed on Thursday to end the strike.
Rail unions, SNCF and government officials are expected to continue talks for at least another month.
Only Sud Rail, one out of eight labour groups, has called on its members to carry on striking during the talks.
Contested reforms
The dispute has been the biggest challenge for Sarkozy since he took office in May.
Protests reached a peak when civil servants and students staged separate strikes
Sarkozy has vowed to stand firm over the central point of the dispute, scrapping a privilege that allows half a million state workers to retire on a full pension two and a half years earlier than most other employees.
Under the plan, railway and energy workers will have to work for 40 years to qualify for full pensions compared to the current 37.5 years.
But the SNCF has offered some concessions such as including certain bonus payments in the calculation of pension rights or pay rises for those approaching retirement.
Public opinion has been firmly on the government’s side in the dispute.
A recent poll showed that the president has the support of the public, with 68 per cent believing the strike is “not justified”.
Protests in France reached a peak when civil servants staged a separate one-day strike over pay and job cuts.
Some unions warned they might renew their protests next month.
The government has argued changes to pension schemes are essential to modernising the French economy.
Sarkozy’s rivals, however, fear it spells the beginning of the end of the labour protections considered part of the French way of life.