Paris Transport Workers Join Strike Over Pensions

French commuters walked or cycled to work today as transport workers went on strike in protest at government plans to change public sector pensions.

Transport in Paris ground to a halt as metro and bus staff joined a national rail strike while workers at power and gas utilities EdF and GdF also downed tools.

Strikers in the energy sector blocked ships from unloading at the Fos-sur-Mer liquefied natural gas terminal in south-west France operated by GdF, the CGT union said.

"There are no ships unloading and no gas being injected in networks," a CGT spokesman said.

The stoppages pose the biggest challenge to President Nicolas Sarkozy since he came to power six months ago on a platform of economic and social reforms.

The disputes center on government plans to end so-called "special regimes" that allow a few workers to retire after 37.5 years of pension contributions, compared to 40 years for everyone else.

The special regimes were introduced after the second world war for workers in arduous jobs, but the government says such privileges no longer make sense and cost the state 5bn euros (£3.5bn) a year.

Transport workers say conditions may not be as hard as when the system was devised more than half a century ago, but they still suffer low pay and unsociable working hours that justify their special status.

All previous attempts to reform the special regimes have failed in the face of massive street protests, but Sarkozy enjoys strong public support in the polls.

A survey in L'Express magazine said 58% of people thought the government should not back down. A survey published by right-leaning Le Figaro newspaper said 84% of people did not expect Sarkozy to buckle.

The head of one of the strongest unions, CGT-Cheminots, dismissed any mention of concessions.

"The ball is in the government's camp," its general secretary, Didier le Reste, said on Canal-Plus television.

The labour minister, Xavier Bertrand, was meeting with unions today.

The SNCF rail network said only 15% to 20% of trains on major lines would run during the strike, and warned that traffic was likely to be disrupted through the weekend. It urged travelers to postpone any trips they had planned.

The RATP public transit authority in Paris said there would be almost no trains on most routes starting today. One line - the north-south line 14 - ran normally because it is automated.

Paper signs reading "no service" dangled at metro stations and bus and tram stops throughout Paris.

Electricity workers said they would cut power at local offices of Sarkozy's conservative UMP party, and they also planned "Robin Hood" operations - restoring power to households that cannot afford their electricity bills.

The Comedie Francaise theatre and Paris' National Opera - whose employees also stand to be affected by the pension reforms - canceled performances today.