French workers strike against Sarkozy's reforms

By Anna Willard

PARIS (Reuters) - Strikes by French transport and energy workers caused widespread disruption for the second time in a month on Wednesday in a protest over pensions that is the biggest test yet of President Nicolas Sarkozy's reform drive.

Train services were disrupted and power output and gas supplies reduced. Some stoppages were expected on Thursday but there were signs they might not drag on too long after unions and government agreed a compromise over negotiating methods.

By Wednesday night, unions and the government said they were prepared to hold three-way talks with companies in each sector to thrash out a deal, but the details had yet to be worked out and the transport strikes were set to continue.

"The conditions are in place so that all the trade unions can participate in the company and sector negotiations," Sarkozy's spokesman David Martinon said in a statement.

Sarkozy has broad public support for the reform, which aims to bring generous pension provisions for about 500,000 public sector workers into line with those of other workers ahead of a general pension reform next year.

The streets of Paris heaved with mopeds, bikes, cars and pedestrians as commuters tried to get to and from work without the usually efficient metro and bus system.

"I have nurses, carers and other workers who do a very hard job and they don't have special pensions," said Gerard Alaux, a nursing home owner who was walking 6 km (around 4 miles) to work because his metro line was not working.

"We can't avoid pension reform in this day and age."

Only a handful of trains ran on Wednesday and Paris's transport system operated reduced services. But some lines were less affected than predicted and strike participation was down compared to the previous stoppage on October 18.

The transport strike will continue on Thursday but the SNCF rail operator forecast an increase in traffic and the CFDT union said its Paris transport workers would return to work.

The Paris-London rail link Eurostar will run as normal.

Strikes by energy workers cut about 12 percent of output at EDF nuclear plants and blocked ships and input at the Fos-sur-Mer gas terminal on Wednesday.

Most power workers are expected return to work on Thursday but the Fos-sur-Mer protest will continue until Friday.

Several thousand union members marched in Paris but their protest was more subdued than in October. In a separate protest some 30 universities were blocked by students angry over education reform.

COMPROMISE