Joined: Sat May 29, 2004 11:46 pm
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French Transit Strike Persists
In France, transit workers, opera technicians, electric and gas company employees have gone on strike to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to reduce special pension benefits that allow them to retire after 37 1/2 years instead of the usual 40 years. University students have been striking over changes in government education policies.
With civil servants and workers in other sectors threatening to strike over their own particular issues next week, the stoppages pose a major threat to Sarkozy's efforts to reduce France's bureaucracy, cut back on costly social programs and make France's workforce more competitive in global markets.
"I'm not a Sarkozy fan, but I'd like for him to reform our country," said Alice Foret, 54, who was late for her job at a Paris jewelry shop because of striking transit workers. "The pension system has to be more egalitarian. I'll retire when I'm 63. Why can train drivers retire when they're 55? It's not fair."
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