21 January 2005
French government plans to review working practices, together with a number of pay disputes, have provoked a wave of strikes by public service workers across the country.
Three days of action called by the major union confederations brought trains to a standstill, closed schools, caused operations in hospitals to be cancelled, and disrupted postal services.
The postal workers were first in the firing line on January 18, as the National Assembly discussed reviewing the service's structure to open it to private competition, which the unions see as a precursor to privatisation and job cuts.
Railway workers followed on January 19 in a protest against job cuts in the state railway company SNCF. 'By the end of 2005, 11,765 jobs will have gone,' said Bernard Aubin, secretary general of one of the union confederations, the CFTC. 'For the SNCF management, progress is always linked with job cuts.'
Civil servants, teachers and hospital workers were also due to take action for improved pay and job security.
Next month, the conservative government of Jacques Chirac is due to begin work on reforming working practices, in particular the 35-hour week introduced by the previous Socialist government.
PFjan2005
