French Unions Challenge Sarkozy in Strike Over Pension Changes

France's transport and public sector workers began a nationwide strike today in protest over changes to state pension qualification rules.

The strike will put renewed pressure on the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to amend his pension reform plans as his approval ratings reach an all-time low a year after his election.

France's five largest unions have asked members to march in 80 cities, calling for a reversal of the government's decision to increase state pension entitlement rules to 41 years of work, an increase of one year.

"The scale of the protests will show that the government will have to review its plans under pressure," Bernard Thibault, head of the powerful CGT union, told France 2 television.

Port workers have also planned a walkout to coincide with the one-day protest which will further disrupt shipping times that have already been affected by fisherman taking action over the rising cost of diesel.

Today's strikes are not predicted to cause the widespread travel problems seen in November, when a nine-day protest was held by transport workers who were striking against plans to scrap the special pension rights of public-sector workers.

The government negotiated an end to those entitlements, under which certain categories could draw a full pension after working for 37.5 years rather than the standard 40 years.

On the rail network, most of the disruption was expected to be on regional trains, while trains to Paris airports were also halved. International links to Brussels and London should be unaffected.

But France's civil aviation authority has said flights could be affected, especially those taking off in the morning.

The unions have said the success of their protest today will be measured by how many people turned out for their rallies, with 500,000 expected in Paris.

In 2003, more than 1m people marched during the last demonstration against pension reform.