Transport strikes hit France

PARIS, France -- Much of the country's public transportation system has come to a standstill due to a strike called by unions to press their demands for a lower retirement age.

Union officials said that Monday's strike had paralysed public transportation in Marseille, Bordeaux, Rennes, Strasbourg, Metz, Cannes, Nice and Montpellier.

The four leading unions which had called the work stoppage want the retirement age for bus, rail and metro drivers to be lowered from 60 to 55 years.

About 40 cities were affected by the strike. But traffic was unaffected in Paris, where transport workers already enjoy the right to retire at 55 years.

In the southeastern city of Lyon, authorities reported only 10 buses operating out of a total of 123.

A spokeswoman for Lyon's transport authority noted that there was less support for the current strike than for a similar protest in January.

"We currently have about a hundred drivers who are ready to go to work but who are being blocked by pickets in front of three stations," she said.

The Union of Public Transporters (UTP), which groups employers, criticised the strike and said the main employers' federation MEDEF was campaigning to push the retirement age beyond 60 years.

A UTP spokesman said that 75 percent of drivers aged over 55 years already benefit from early retirement schemes.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Thousands join French strike
March 22, 2001
French employers, truckers resume talks to end massive strike
Nov. 5, 1997

MEDEF
French Public Transport

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.