Paris - The French Finance Ministry has estimated that the
railway and public transportation strike that is gradually ending
after 10 days cost France's economy up to 4 billion euros (about 6
billion dollars), France-Info radio reported Friday.
And more costs are to be tabulated, as Labour Minister Xavier
Bertrand told France 3 television late Thursday that commuters who
were not able to use their weekly or monthly transportation passes
during the strike would be reimbursed in January.
The national railway network SNCF said traffic was gradually
returning to normal on Friday, with some disruptions in regional
train traffic reported.
The RATP urban transit system serving the greater Paris area said
that most Paris metro and commuter lines were operating at normal
capacity, and that 80 per cent of the city's buses were running.
Both the SNCF and RATP said that all traffic should be restored to
normal by Sunday at the latest.
However, France-Info reported that most of the railway workers who
voted to end the walkout were talking about a 'suspension' of the
strike, rather than a definitive end.
A renewal of the labour conflict depends on the progress of
negotiations over a proposed pension reform that aims to end certain
retirement privileges for some 500,000 workers in the railway and
energy sectors.
Talks between labour, government representatives and RATP and SNCF
management began Wednesday and are scheduled to be resumed next week.
It is uncertain if rank-and-file union members will accept having
their years of payment into the pension system increased from 37.5 to
40 years, a proposal the government has vowed not to withdraw.
The SNCF has reportedly put forward an offer that would give
workers affected by the reform a supplementary pension and wage hikes
toward the end of their careers, measures that could cost up to 100
million euros per year.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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