French Strike, Public Pport Paralyzed, White-Collar Wear Skates To Work

French public pport workers launched an indefinite strike to protest President Sakorzy's retirement reform plan. The train, subway and bus service were almost paralyzed on 14 days. The car dragons entering Paris were 300 kilometers long.

However, the government and trade unions have renewed their dialogue in an attempt to avoid prolonged and persistent conflicts.

Many suburban office workers rent hotels in the vicinity of offices to avoid traffic jam. Some people go out in the dark, but they are still trapped in the streets. All the streets are cyclists and white-collar roller skates and scooters go to work.

However, the "Eurostar" of the British and French high-speed railway opened on the first day was not affected, because the company was converted to British staff before the opening of the company.

Paris Volkswagen said that the subway provided about 20% services while the bus service was only about 15%. A spokesman for the company said, "this is much better than expected."

The Paris Opera House singers and French National Theatre actors have special retirement benefits. They also take part in the strike, forcing the 14 day's performance to be cancelled.

Students, teachers, civil servants and even local magistrates are also calling for a strike because of different demands. The government is worried that it will turn into a cross industry strike which is hard to fight the economy.

French Prime Minister Fillon has instructed labor minister Bertrand to meet with representatives of trade unions to hear their proposals for reform of the "special retirement system".

Bertrand met with trade union leaders on the morning of 14, and Maris of the French labor Democratic Union said: "there is still room for coordination.

The two polls on 13 days showed that Sarkozy's popularity dropped by a few percentage points, but most people still supported him.

A poll in a French weekly showed that 58% of respondents believed that the government should not give in; a more daily survey showed that 84% of respondents thought Sakorzy would not give in.

The notice issued by the French national railway union is to carry out an indefinite strike. Trade union leaders hope that the strike will be postponed until November 20th, when civil servants will be dissatisfied if they are dissatisfied with the reduction of state organs.

Because the Sakorzy administration advocates free market, it considers that the consultation on railway workers' retirement system is a matter between trade unions and enterprises. Therefore, it repeatedly rejected the Union's request for consultation with the government and the three party of the enterprise association.

This makes the trade unions very embarrassed. If the public opinion thinks that the strike action is only to safeguard the interests of the minority, if the strike fails, it will be the risk of the end of the trade union.

The strike action was widely exaggerated by the media into a strike similar to that of the Juppe administration in 1995. The breakdown of the strike by television is like the end of the world.

Is it the end of the union or the doomsday of Sarkozy?

Whether Sakorzy will become an iron hand to deal with the Union's Thatcher, the parties are watching.