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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
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(Newser) – 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.

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. Workers for the Paris...
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...   (Associated Press)
Subway users board 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. Workers for the Paris transit...
Subway users board 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...   (Associated Press)
A pigeon is seen early Thursday Oct. 18, 2007, at the empty Gare de Lyon train station in Paris. A public transport strike billed as France's biggest in years was in full swing, with commuters forced to walk, pedal or drive to work in large numbers, and many thought to...
A pigeon is seen early Thursday Oct. 18, 2007, at the empty Gare de Lyon train station in Paris. A public transport strike billed as France's biggest in years was in full swing, with commuters forced...   (Associated Press)
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