France was hit by another day of walkouts, protests and transport chaos today, as trade unions stepped up the pressure on the government to withdraw a controversial pensions reform bill.
Railway and metro workers, teachers and air traffic controllers spearheaded the day of nationwide strikes - the third in as many weeks - causing serious disruptions to train, bus and underground services in Paris and other cities.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators - unions estimated turnout at over 1.5 million - took to the streets across the country in protest at the reform plan, which calls for employees, especially in the extensive public sector, to work more years in order to get a full pension.
Most of the rallies were peaceful, but Paris police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protestors gathered near the National Assembly, where legislators began debating the contested draft.
Despite the outcry over the bill, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin refused to back down, insisting as he opened the debate that reform is necessary to save the creaking pensions system from bankruptcy as baby boomers go into retirement.
"To those who are afraid, I say that this reform is one of national security," the prime minister told deputies, hailing the proposals of his year-old centre-right government as the "fruit of social dialogue".
In Paris, only a third of buses and two-thirds of metro trains were operating, and traffic authorities reported 170 kilometres (105 miles) of tailbacks around the capital during the evening rush hour. Protestors also blocked roads in and out of other French cities like Toulouse in the southwest.
State-owned rail operator SNCF said an average of one in three trains was running on high-speed TGV and regional lines. But in the skies the disruptions were less serious than feared, with flights at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport running close to schedule. At Orly south of the city, about 100 flights were cancelled, with passengers facing delays of up to two hours.
The pensions plan has been accepted by the second-largest union CFDT, but the hardline CGT and FO, which are powerful in the public sector, say it places too much of the burden on the workforce and are demanding its renegotiation.
AFP