A strike by French transport workers over pension reform entered a second day today and caused widespread disruption.
France's SNCF railway company said less than half its staff were on strike, against more than 60 per cent yesterday, but workers from the largest rail union, the CGT, voted to continue the strike until at least tomorrow morning.
Although slightly more trains, buses and metro trains were operating today, many workers struggled to reach their office, and traffic jams clogged roads leading into Paris from before dawn.
The strike is the biggest test yet for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was elected on a pledge to do away with the special pension regimes, which allow some state sector employees to retire after 37.5 years of work against 40 years for everyone else.
He has indicated he is willing to make secondary concessions but has vowed not to give way on this central point, confident that public opinion is firmly behind him.