Paris: November 14, 2007 -  A national transport strike is reported to have crippled parts of France today as labor unions and President Nicolas Sarkozy confronted over his plans to curb the early retirement benefits.

Some of the country’s biggest train stations were eerily calm during rush hour after employees of the state-owned railway operator SNCF began an open-ended strike on Tuesday night. Paris transit workers joined the walkout this morning, shutting down key commuter lines around the capital and paralyzing parts of the Métro and bus network.

Bracing brisk November temperatures, scores of bundled up Parisians walked, biked or roller-bladed to work. Traffic in the center and on the motorway ringing the city limits, heavy at the best of times, slowed to a crawl. But in a sign that support for the strike may not be as overwhelming as the unions had hoped, some subway lines experienced fewer disruptions than expected.

“Will it last?” asked today’s front-page headline of Le Parisien newspaper, echoing a question heard in bistros and cafes across the capital. In 1995, the last time a government tried to reform public sector pensions, unions shut down the country for three weeks and forced the authorities to abandon the measure.

Against that backdrop, the protests have become an emblematic test of wills. Mr. Sarkozy’s pension reform, which only affects about 500,000 public sector employees, is the opening salvo in a series of measures aimed more broadly at rolling back France’s system of labor protections. Both the president and the unions have staked their legitimacy on victory in the standoff.

Henri Guaino, a Sarkozy aide and speechwriter, said on LCI television today that if the pension measure failed, “all other reforms will be compromised.”

Gas and electricity workers also went on strike today, threatening targeted blackouts to air their grievances over the retirement reform. Employees of the national opera cancelled today’s performance, while university students in some cities joined the protests by occupying campuses and blockading classes. 
 
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/world/europe/14cnd-france.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin