France faces massive protests as strikes combine

By Francois Murphy

PARIS (Reuters) - France faces massive protests on Tuesday as a continuing transport strike combines with a walkout by public sector workers in a serious challenge to President Nicolas Sarkozy's program of economic reform .

Rail workers who oppose Sarkozy's plan to scrap some public sector pension rights have voted to extend their crippling strike into its seventh day, when it will overlap with a one-day walkout by civil servants from postal workers to teachers.

Public sector workers object to Sarkozy's plan to not replace some retiring civil servants in a bid to cut costs, and say their purchasing power is being eroded.

"The mobilization will be strong. I am not overjoyed and I know that the French people are starting to get fed up," Budget Minister Eric Woerth told newspaper Le Parisien.

His ministry issued a statement on Monday saying public sector workers' purchasing power had in fact increased by 2.4 percent in 2007.

Students, who are blocking access to buildings at dozens of campuses across France, and some high school pupils will also take part in Tuesday's demonstrations in protest at a government reform granting more autonomy to universities.

School closures caused by the teachers' strike will add to working parents' headaches. Commuters will also be unable to buy a newspaper, and flights could also be disrupted.

Newspaper distributors are holding a one-day strike over planned restructuring, air traffic control staff at Paris's second airport at Orly are walking off the job, and the country's main energy union has called a one-day strike.