French trains, schools and public services were hit on Tuesday by protests over pensions and wages, with unions looking to capitalise on a hefty defeat for President Nicolas Sarkozy at weekend regional elections. Hundreds of thousands took part in protests or gatherings in response to union calls and public services were affected with schools hit and up to half of all regional trains not running.
-- Unions pressing for concessions on wages, pensions
-- Sarkozy on defensive after election rout
According to the CGT union, around 800,000 people took part in 177 demonstrations across France, although the Solidaires (Sud) union put the figure at 600,000. Unions said more than 40 percent of teachers stayed away from work, although the government put the figure at 22 percent.
On Sunday, Sarkozy's centre-right allies suffered their worst electoral defeat in more than five decades, as leftist parties swept to power in 23 out of France's 26 regions. Sarkozy responded by overseeing a rejig of his cabinet, sacking the minister who had been set to lead negotiations on a pensions reform after he fared particularly badly in the vote.
Budget Minister Eric Woerth, seen as a safe pair of hands, was promoted to head the labour ministry and take over the pension talks, while three newcomers were called into the government to bolster the conservative and centrist ranks. Union leaders dismissed the reshuffle, saying it would do nothing to revive the economy and accusing Sarkozy of failing to understand that the mood had changed in France.
"Ever since Sunday we have heard (the centre-right) say 'we are going to maintain course'. They aren't listening and that poses a real problem," said Bernard Thibault, head of the large CGT union which is leading Tuesday's protests. Thibault urged Sarkozy to call labour leaders and employers together to discuss ways of boosting salaries, and warned the government to expect determined opposition to its planned overhaul of the state pensions system.
"I am convinced that we cannot impose a pensions reform that is based exclusively on accounting and financial criteria," he told Europe 1 radio. "A reform will be very complicated." The government, looking to tame a record debt and budget deficit, wants people to work longer before drawing full pensions and is likely to push for a rise in the retirement age, which at 60 is one of the lowest in the leading EU countries.
But with an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent and a slow and bumpy recovery after last year's recession, Woerth faces a tough task when talks begin with unions over pensions. "This reform will be managed through consensus, conciliation, dialogue and listening," he told parliament.
Tuesday's protests culminated in demonstrations in many major French cities, although they were still some way off the scale of protests in the first half of 2009, when up to a million people took to the streets. Asked about the scale of the protests this time around, Francois Chereque, head of the CFDT union, said: "We still have a few months before us, with May 1. The action is an evolving process and it doesn't end in a day," Chereque told France 2 television.
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