President Sarkozy of France is on the verge of a breakthrough in his ambitious plan to wean his country off the restrictive working practices he believes stand in the way of national prosperity.
Yesterday, the strike of rail and subway workers that has crippled France for nine days was clearly crumbling, as workers began returning to work in large numbers and union branches conceded that support for the dispute is collapsing.
"We think a dynamic of return to work has begun," Julie Vion, a spokeswoman for France's state-owned railroad network, SNCF, said.
Union leaders began to concede defeat yesterday. "We have to face reality. Since yesterday's negotiations, things have changed. The strike is no longer the solution. The strike strategy is no longer winning," a leader of the Sud union representing Paris underground railway workers, Philippe Touzet, said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
The collapse of support for the strike by individual rail workers marks the first success in what Mr. Sarkozy considers the key goal of his presidency, the abandonment of expensive entitlements and special conditions for public sector workers, including generous early retirement and pension benefits for half a million rail workers, which he believes make France uncompetitive.
Managers for SNCF announced yesterday that 42 out of 45 rail union committees have voted to abandon the national strike that has frozen the country's economy, and will return to work without delay.
SNCF said 540 out of 700 of their high-speed TGV trains were running normally yesterday. They predicted rail services would continue to improve Friday and would be almost back to normal by Saturday.
Top executives for RATP, the Paris metro subway system, said they expected 70% of trains on most lines, 75% of buses, and 80% of trams to be running as normal Friday.
Rail union leaders conceded that their members "should be heading towards a return to work," but suggested that other forms of industrial action may take the place of strikes.
"According to initial returns from the general assemblies, it should be heading towards a return to work. We're heading towards a suspension" of the strike, a member of the powerful CGT union, Daniel Tourlan, said in Marseilles yesterday.
He threatened other forms of protest rather than the strike, which crippled the nation's centralized transport system. "It's only the form of action that's changing. The determination of the rail workers is intact," he said.
Mr. Sarkozy has kept aloof from the negotiations between rail network managers and the unions and has largely refrained from commenting on the strike, which has proved enormously unpopular with French commuters.
His solitary intervention was to condemn sabotage to the high-speed railroad, urging that the culprits who damaged rails and electrical connections, thereby endangering passenger safety, be punished with "extreme severity."
Instead, the president has left Prime Minister Fillon to front his government's efforts to bring the strike to a swift end while offering the prospect in negotiations of compensation for some of the rail workers' lost privileges.
On the table are salary increases and a top-up scheme for pensions to replace job security and retirement for workers as young as 50, instead of the nationwide standard of 65. Under the proposed reforms, workers would have to work for 40 years to qualify for full pensions, compared with 37.5 years now. Negotiations will resume Monday.
Mr. Fillon praised the "responsible attitude of the principle unions" at a meeting of French mayors yesterday and welcomed the "patience" of the French people. Finance Minister Christine Lagarde puts the cost of the dispute at $594 million a day in lost business.
The collapse of the strike "looks like a victory for the government and a green light for more structural reforms in France," an economist at BNP-Paribas in Paris, Dominique Barbet, told Bloomberg in an e-mail.
However, the new pay and conditions for rail workers proposed by the government may be more than anticipated when they are fully disclosed at the end of negotiations expected to be completed by December 18.
When the rail strike is settled, Mr. Sarkozy must confront widespread opposition to his education reforms, where he has passed laws offering more autonomy to educational institutions to improve tuition standards and increase the amount of private funding in colleges.
The proposals have been welcomed with strikes and protests by France's students, who have historically played an important part in national opposition to government policies.
Forty-four out of France's 82 universities were disrupted by student protests yesterday and seven were shut down. About 2,600 students from the University of the Sorbonne in Paris, the cauldron of student protest since the national strike of workers and students in 1968, and others marched in the streets yesterday.
| Title | By | Date |
Wanted: US President Like Sarko [2 words] |
Ben Chad |
Nov 26, 2007 20:29 |
Where did all the anti-socialist commenters come from? I thought Americans admired socialistic, fly-in-the-ointment France. [96 words] |
REW |
Nov 24, 2007 10:56 |
Unfortunately, conservatives are given only a short time to succeed while liberals are given generations to flounder. [17 words] |
R. Tureman |
Nov 24, 2007 10:04 |
We need a Sarkozy clone for US President [11 words] |
Patrice |
Nov 24, 2007 10:00 |
↔ Sarkozy Clone for President [10 words] |
maggie heenan |
Nov 24, 2007 10:13 |
LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER ! [52 words] |
Dan Adalon |
Nov 24, 2007 09:39 |
Sarkozy for Pres. [13 words] |
Prokopios Sotiropulos |
Nov 24, 2007 09:10 |
Long Live Sarkozy! [17 words] |
R. Tureman |
Nov 24, 2007 06:38 |
Please read the first paragraph of the article! [82 words] |
J Lassez |
Nov 24, 2007 02:43 |
↔ Finally, a fine leadership example we all have to envy. [71 words] |
Walt Verrill |
Nov 24, 2007 08:54 |
Democrats: Ignore at Your Peril! [74 words] |
Kayak49 |
Nov 24, 2007 00:30 |
Repukes are nuts [160 words] |
Toni |
Nov 24, 2007 00:00 |
↔ Credibility? [206 words] |
CMartel2 |
Nov 24, 2007 04:22 |
↔ Buying power of gold(401k) [55 words] |
Lefty |
Nov 24, 2007 07:36 |
↔ Suit? You missed the point.. [98 words] |
Toni |
Nov 24, 2007 11:00 |
↔ Re: Credibility? [118 words] |
Toni |
Nov 24, 2007 11:06 |
Ah, now the calls for mercy [65 words] |
Ted Baar |
Nov 23, 2007 23:07 |
If he could only run for President- Here [88 words] |
Doug Tucker |
Nov 23, 2007 22:26 |
Eh, it's principal, not principle [16 words] |
Dayahka |
Nov 23, 2007 21:56 |
SOS - Sarkozy Onward Steady [32 words] |
grant perry |
Nov 23, 2007 21:52 |
STRIKE BY PUBLIC WORKERS IS OBSCENE [44 words] |
DONALD FAHRENKRUG |
Nov 23, 2007 21:47 |
Mr. Chirac - Have a nice day. [23 words] |
Mohammed Mohammed |
Nov 23, 2007 20:48 |
Mr. Chirac - Have a nice day. [23 words] |
Mohammed Mohammed |
Nov 23, 2007 20:48 |
That's what I called leadership [30 words] |
rj |
Nov 23, 2007 19:19 |
A damned fine start [17 words] |
Johnny Baker |
Nov 23, 2007 18:43 |
feeding frenzy [196 words] |
donilo |
Nov 23, 2007 18:02 |
The Left in US Still Think Chirac is in charge! [190 words] |
mel wahl |
Nov 23, 2007 17:13 |
↔ you're kidding right? [119 words] |
ozu |
Nov 24, 2007 00:32 |
↔ bravo sarkozy! [351 words] |
Larry BARKER |
Nov 24, 2007 09:43 |
vive la france [17 words] |
robert lavoie |
Nov 23, 2007 16:56 |
The Pendulum Swings... [72 words] |
Mr. UnPC |
Nov 23, 2007 16:56 |
At last, at last... [172 words] |
Sir Joshua |
Nov 23, 2007 16:51 |
Liberalism and Socialism Fails 100% Of The Time [118 words] |
Steve Schneider |
Nov 23, 2007 16:22 |
↔ Reply to Steve Schneiders's commentss 111-23-07 [81 words] |
Bill Ingram |
Nov 23, 2007 22:32 |
Contrast with Chirac... [93 words] |
PAtrick Carroll |
Nov 23, 2007 15:18 |
Sarkozy: Saviour or [58 words] |
Chris Smith |
Nov 23, 2007 15:07 |
Good For Alec! [105 words] |
Jason |
Nov 23, 2007 14:20 |
Reagan still working beyond the grave! [114 words] |
Rusty Shackelford |
Nov 23, 2007 14:11 |
FREE at last ... Long live Ronald Sarkozy [78 words] |
Pierre |
Nov 23, 2007 14:04 |
↔ happy but concerned [36 words] |
Jim |
Nov 23, 2007 20:22 |
Vive Sarkozy! [44 words] |
MDWhite |
Nov 23, 2007 13:55 |
The New France [20 words] |
steve |
Nov 23, 2007 13:54 |
↔ OK to buy French things again.... [23 words] |
Joe Marnich |
Nov 23, 2007 16:48 |
BRAVO PRESIDENT SARKOZY [36 words] |
robert accosta |
Nov 23, 2007 13:31 |
Finally, Europe Grows Up [53 words] |
Le Petite Chien |
Nov 23, 2007 13:24 |
↔ Welcom Back France [59 words] |
Thomas Lavelle |
Nov 23, 2007 14:11 |
Reagans influence. [16 words] |
Scooter |
Nov 23, 2007 12:59 |
↔ Is Hillary watching? [36 words] |
Jim I. |
Nov 23, 2007 13:10 |
↔ hard work prevails [20 words] |
heuy |
Nov 23, 2007 13:17 |
Wouldn't it be grand . . . [143 words] |
LBJack |
Nov 23, 2007 12:57 |
Alec the sharp tack in the rust pile [55 words] |
Morriss |
Nov 23, 2007 12:55 |
Going to Paris!!! [8 words] |
Silvia |
Nov 23, 2007 12:53 |
The Beginning of the End for France [18 words] |
Chris Hayden |
Nov 23, 2007 12:50 |
↔ Alec's mind is boggled [155 words] |
Mark |
Nov 23, 2007 13:09 |
↔ The Beginning of the End for France [8 words] |
andy towert |
Nov 23, 2007 15:53 |
↔ TO ALL CONSERVATIVES READING THIS [149 words] |
eb |
Nov 23, 2007 18:11 |
↔ responce to Chris Hayden [54 words] |
bruno |
Nov 23, 2007 18:15 |
We love Sarkozy [39 words] |
Ann Donnelly |
Nov 23, 2007 12:44 |
I LOVE this Guy...Can we in America Borrow Him for a While? [80 words] |
Tonard Bales of New York City |
Nov 23, 2007 12:34 |
↔ One down; next: The Taggers. [62 words] |
Bill Wolski |
Nov 23, 2007 17:23 |
↔ We Need A Sarkozy in America [22 words] |
Marc |
Nov 23, 2007 18:35 |
The Death of Unionism [100 words] |
Rick Aztlan |
Nov 23, 2007 12:21 |
↔ Unions are fine - its union political coercion that stinks [175 words] |
Douglas Smith |
Nov 23, 2007 12:37 |
Then and now [96 words] |
Zinovi |
Nov 23, 2007 12:13 |
It boggles my mind..... [189 words] |
Alec |
Nov 23, 2007 12:07 |
↔ Alec needs better schooling [245 words] |
Dave |
Nov 23, 2007 13:15 |
↔ Look who's 'snowed' [88 words] |
Paul in NJ |
Nov 23, 2007 13:24 |
↔ Here's a thought [227 words] |
Joe K. |
Nov 23, 2007 14:16 |
↔ Viva La France! [13 words] |
S Adams |
Nov 23, 2007 15:46 |
↔ Grammar [21 words] |
Zinovi |
Nov 23, 2007 15:51 |
↔ RE:It boggles my mind..... [426 words] |
Jason |
Nov 23, 2007 16:52 |
↔ Alec shows his shallow thinking [226 words] |
Bill B |
Nov 23, 2007 17:09 |
↔ responce to alex [106 words] |
keynee |
Nov 23, 2007 18:43 |
↔ Next [408 words] |
Harry |
Nov 24, 2007 09:45 |
↔ Problem with you guys [103 words] |
Toni |
Nov 24, 2007 11:57 |
Conservative proves the failures and corruption of liberals & Unions..and he's from France!! [109 words] |
M.R. "Ric" Starnes |
Nov 23, 2007 11:48 |
↔ Union - Social Organization [152 words] |
wrmomxg |
Nov 23, 2007 12:02 |
WAAAA [39 words] |
Chris |
Nov 23, 2007 11:21 |
union greed [97 words] |
dj reed |
Nov 23, 2007 11:17 |
returning of sanity [24 words] |
james reda |
Nov 23, 2007 11:04 |
Sarko not a man to be trifled with [107 words] |
Dave |
Nov 23, 2007 11:03 |
↔ In China [16 words] |
Matt |
Nov 23, 2007 23:57 |
Strong President [27 words] |
Ray Holland |
Nov 23, 2007 11:02 |
More power to Mr. Sarkozy! [108 words] |
Pete |
Nov 23, 2007 10:59 |
Sarkozy is a Great Man! [90 words] |
Ron May |
Nov 23, 2007 10:46 |
↔ Hating America [29 words] |
Ted Harrison |
Nov 23, 2007 11:54 |
USA can learn [23 words] |
Beosaychee |
Nov 23, 2007 10:45 |
Back to the future? [34 words] |
Hillary |
Nov 23, 2007 10:39 |
Finally, a Frenchman that doesn't act like one. [26 words] |
Randy |
Nov 23, 2007 10:34 |
Reagan of France [147 words] |
Sri |
Nov 23, 2007 10:33 |
Outdated unions [56 words] |
Janet Driesen |
Nov 23, 2007 10:32 |
French rail strike [8 words] |
Jay Martin |
Nov 23, 2007 10:30 |
French Rail Strike [11 words] |
D S SAMMIS |
Nov 23, 2007 10:22 |
Lazy French? [68 words] |
Darrell Mc Neill |
Nov 23, 2007 10:20 |
↔ Why weren't they fired? [86 words] |
Marti |
Nov 23, 2007 16:51 |
Some backbone for a change!!!! [154 words] |
John |
Nov 23, 2007 10:00 |
Good for Sarkozy! [42 words] |
Benjamin |
Nov 23, 2007 10:00 |
French Wine [46 words] |
Russell Boyer |
Nov 23, 2007 09:57 |
the great and glorious Messr. Zarkozy [148 words] |
Robert Carwithen |
Nov 23, 2007 09:51 |
About Time [19 words] |
Eugene Boyanton |
Nov 23, 2007 09:48 |
France moves in the right direction. Leadership is the key. [100 words] |
Charles McMahon |
Nov 23, 2007 09:31 |
hiring? [15 words] |
cpm |
Nov 23, 2007 09:26 |
France's Reagan [16 words] |
Tiv |
Nov 23, 2007 09:23 |
Sarkozy: the REAGAN of France! [30 words] |
Gary Jakacky |
Nov 23, 2007 09:22 |
Balls [11 words] |
Ben |
Nov 23, 2007 09:21 |
It's about time that a leader takes the lead. [79 words] |
Allan Creates |
Nov 23, 2007 09:20 |
Keep it Up [28 words] |
Bruno |
Nov 23, 2007 09:17 |
How can they? [55 words] |
Liliya Leontyeva |
Nov 23, 2007 09:15 |
It would be nice [48 words] |
Ruckus |
Nov 23, 2007 08:53 |
zFrench [6 words] |
CamusAmongus |
Nov 23, 2007 08:51 |
Welcome changes in France [72 words] |
John Fairplay |
Nov 23, 2007 08:45 |
A victory ike the one of Margaret Thatcher [168 words] |
Dr. Jean-Noel Prade |
Nov 23, 2007 08:44 |
↔ f.a.hayek was right [10 words] |
jon seligman |
Nov 24, 2007 04:38 |
Sarkozy should be a role model for our Democrat party!! [36 words] |
William Reed |
Nov 23, 2007 08:29 |
Oh no..... [85 words] |
Jon Spain |
Nov 23, 2007 08:27 |
Finally Some Sense [33 words] |
Scott |
Nov 23, 2007 08:22 |
Sarkozy for president? [18 words] |
Ed |
Nov 23, 2007 07:51 |
At last [11 words] |
monte walker |
Nov 23, 2007 07:45 |
reality-check for france [9 words] |
rod reese |
Nov 23, 2007 07:46 |
A lesson for the US [53 words] |
Bill Konrad |
Nov 23, 2007 07:39 |
capitalism WILL triumph in the end [29 words] |
Mike |
Nov 23, 2007 07:37 |
Sarkozy deals with thugs, goons & bureaucrats [32 words] |
William R. Smith |
Nov 23, 2007 07:09 |
↔ SARKOZY IS A ISRAELI MOSSAD FRAUD [18 words] |
EJAN ARISTIDE |
Nov 23, 2007 20:24 |
Thank the French. I can't believe I said that! [54 words] |
Bill Ulm |
Nov 23, 2007 06:52 |
FRANCE at a crossroads yet again [65 words] |
Zyskandar A Jaimot |
Nov 23, 2007 06:52 |
