In France, Civil Servants Will Join Transport Workers in Strike
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

PARIS — Transport workers causing havoc on French rails voted to extend their strike into a seventh day today, when they will be joined by a mass walkout of civil servants, increasing pressure on President Sarkozy to backtrack on his reforms.
But the government stood its ground, with Prime Minister François Fillon saying the reforms must go through — even though the strikes are costing the government at least $439.6 million a day. Strikes led by train drivers angry over Mr. Sarkozy’s plans to extend their retirement age have hampered rail traffic and public transport and snarled roads again yesterday. Schools and postal and tax services will fall victim today to a strike by civil servants seeking higher salaries and job security. Air traffic, too, will be affected.
Simmering student protests that have disrupted classes at dozens of universities added yet another dimension to the angry fallout from Mr. Sarkozy’s efforts to jolt France into a new, more competitive era. There were no immediate signs the various movements planned to fuse their efforts into a single blanket protest, despite words of solidarity among them. The conservative president, who has often jumped into trouble spots to fix them himself, has remained curiously silent about the strike.
Mr. Sarkozy was elected in May on promises to reform France — from its courts to its creaking university system, its army of civil servants to rail workers whose special retirement privileges he vowed to erase.
Taking on the transport workers has proved to be especially thorny — and costly — as unions voted yesterday to extend their open-ended strike for a seventh day.
“It’s a real worry for the French economy,” Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said, adding that the strike was costing $439.6 million to $512.7 million a day.
Talks between unions and the management of the rail network and Paris transit authority were set for tomorrow.
Authorities have backed off slightly from the original government position of no talks during strikes. Mr. Fillon said yesterday that rail traffic must “progressively restart” before the talks can begin. The government “has a mandate to push this reform forward,” Mr. Fillon said. He added that “lots of subjects” are nevertheless open to discussion. He dismissed as a minority the protesters hobbling the Paris subway and nationwide rail system.
Meanwhile, civil servants prepared for what was expected to be a massive walkout today. Air traffic controllers fall under the civil servants’ category, meaning disruptions could be expected. Air France employees have said they will take part in the job action, and the company said flights, mainly domestic, would be modified from Marseille and Paris’s Orly airport. Students were also joining today’s protest. Knots of students have been blocking universities around France for two weeks to protest a law passed this summer allowing universities more autonomy to seek nongovernmental income. They fear the changes mean schools will close their doors to the poor.