French one-day strike grounds planes, disrupts public transport PARIS (AP) =97 Air traffic controllers, postal workers and other public=20 employees brought much of France to a halt Thursday with a one-day strike=20 over government plans to overhaul the pension system. The nationwide=20 walkout grounded many commercial flights and limited train service, forcing= =20 commuters in Paris to squeeze into packed subway cars or walk to work. All= =20 major unions but one were participating in the strike, which officially=20 started at 8 p.m. Wednesday but was not felt until Thursday morning.=20 National airline Air France said it canceled 55% of its short- and=20 medium-haul flights within Europe. All long-haul flights to destinations=20 such as Asia and the United States would be operating, the company said.=20 British Airways warned that up to 80% of its services to and from France=20 might be canceled. In Paris, one subway line was shut down, while others=20 had greatly reduced service. "I've had enough," said Josette Chapon, 44,=20 waiting for a cab in central Paris. "I have been standing here for nearly=20 half an hour. The unions really know how to take us hostage." Many=20 commuters stayed off public transport and drove to work instead, slowing=20 the already clogged routes into Paris, Lyon and other major cities. Radio=20 reports said it took 90 minutes to travel just 18 miles outside of Paris at= =20 the start of rush hour. Other commuters clustered at bus stops, waiting impatiently for buses that= =20 came sporadically if at all. More than 100 protest marches were planned.=20 Thousands of demonstrators packed the Place de la Republique, a square in=20 eastern Paris, before crossing the capital. Bernard Thibault, the head of=20 the Communist-affiliated CGT labor union, threatened more strikes if the=20 government did not heed the warning. "We have to resort to this type of=20 protest when, despite our efforts, the government isn't listening to us,"=20 Thibault told Le Figaro newspaper. The pension system needs a dramatic=20 overall to avoid collapse within 20 years, and center-right Prime Minister= =20 Jean-Pierre Raffarin has promised to carry out a reform. Civil servants=20 fear they will lose some of their advantages. Under the existing system,=20 public employees generally work 37.5 years before being eligible for=20 retirement, compared with 40 years in the private sector. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week:http://www.ttsailing.org/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************