France Paralysed By Mass Walkouts

Tens of thousands of public sector employees staged protest marches around France yesterday as strikes by air traffic controllers and train drivers caused chaos at airports, railway and metro stations.

Up to 100,000 people took to the streets of Paris and major provincial cities like Marseille, Toulouse, Rennes and Caen as part of a national walkout by postal, telephone and transport workers, hospital auxiliary staff, and gas and electricity board employees.

A 32-hour strike by air traffic controllers that started on Monday evening saw only 22% of scheduled flights landing or taking off from Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport, while just 17% of flights were maintained at Orly.

With an estimated 50,000 train drivers on strike, rail traffic was disrupted around the country, while many local bus and metro services were also paralysed: police said there was no bus service to speak of in Marseille and Bordeaux. The Paris metro was less hard hit, with traffic reportedly normal except on two lines.

The protests, over salaries, pension reforms and government privatisation plans, were called by all France's main trade union federations and are part of the first big wave of social unrest to engulf the centre-right government that was elected in June.

They marked a second day of transport havoc in France, after lorry drivers mounted dozens of barricades on roads around the country on Monday.

That protest seemed to have all but petered out yesterday, however, amid squabbling among the main truckers' unions and determined police action to prevent gridlock.

Police said 30,000 marchers filed through Paris's Left Bank, but unions put the figure closer to 60,000.

Guy l'Hotelier, a retired railway worker on the march, said France's SNCF rail service - one possible government privatisation target - was better left in public hands.

"Just look what happened in Britain. Privatisations are dangerous," he said.