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Thousands protest as French public sector workers strike (Roundup)

May 15, 2008, 15:57 GMT

Paris - Tens of thousands of French public sector workers and students demonstrated throughout the country Thursday and teachers and civil servants carried out a 24-hour strike to protest government-planned job cuts. Unions said that up to 60,000 people took part in a street protest in Paris to denounce 'the policies of dismantling the public service sector.' Police counted about one-third as many demonstrators. Protest marches were also held in Bordeaux, Lyon and Nantes as well as other cities, while at least 40 per cent of all public school teachers and up to three out of 10 civil servants took part in the job action, according to government figures. Union figures regarding strikers were substantially higher. The schools job action was called by nine unions representing public and private school teachers, as well as by five student unions, to protest plans by the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy to cut some 11,200 teaching jobs this year. Education Minister Xavier Darcos said Thursday on Canal Plus television that the protests and strikes 'will not resolve anything.' Darcos has said repeatedly that these actions will not deter him from carrying out reforms to make the country's education system more efficient, and he has threatened to enact laws that would make it mandatory to keep schools open during strikes. On Thursday, about one in 10 French communities provided a 'minimum service' in their schools and opened doors to students who wished to attend class. French postal workers, hospital employees, customs officials and local and national civil servants also walked off their jobs Thursday to protest government plans to reduce posts by not replacing retiring civil servants. The French government plans to cut some 58,000 posts from all public sector payrolls by the end of 2009. Trade union officials have threatened to carry the movement into the fall if the government does not respond to their demands. The face-off is widely seen as a vital test for Sarkozy in his attempt to enact wide-ranging reforms and slash France's budget deficit. Sarkozy and his ministers have repeatedly said the reforms were necessary for France to meet the European Union's budget deficit threshold of 3 per cent of GDP. The French government has already ruffled feathers in Brussels by saying that France would be not be able to balance its budget until 2012, two years after the EU's 'medium-term objective' (MTO) date. On Wednesday, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia reiterated his 'threat' to move against France if it breaches the 3 per cent deficit to GDP ratio in 2009, as looks likely. Almunia said he expected a decision to be taken before the next meeting of European finance ministers, on June 2-3. Any reprimand would be embarrassing ahead of France's taking over the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1.

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