French Support for Strike Wanes on Day 2

Gov't won't budge; unions vow to return to normal tomorrow
By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 19, 2007 12:15 PM CDT
French Support for Strike Wanes on Day 2
Subway users wait for a train, in Paris, Friday, Oct. 19, 2007. Train, subway and bus travel around France remained a tangle Friday, as Paris transit workers continued their walkout and others gradually resumed service after the first major strikes against President Nicolas Sarkozy's economic reforms....   (Associated Press)

French union leaders hailed yesterday's transit strike as a major success, with 75% participation, AFP reports, and many smaller unions were still holding out today. But the government won't budge on proposed pension reform, and public support waned as commuters faced a second day of the job action and tomorrow's Rugby World Cup final loomed, the AP reports.

Unions promised trains to the Stade de France will operate normally tomorrow as thousands of rugby fans mob Paris. Nicolas Sarkozy maintained he is "committed to reform," adding, "no one must be humiliated." Polls show more than two-thirds of the public support the president's plan to increase special systems workers' service time for retiring with full benefits from 37.5 to 40 years. (More France stories.)

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