Paris:
The French government was bracing on Tuesday for a major strike and protests against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. A subway strike in London led the government to make available additional boats and buses and to encourage commuters to cycle to work.
Subway, suburban rail and bus traffic in Paris was sharply curtailed, though LCI television reported that subway disruptions were not as bad as expected. With many school teachers striking across the country, parents of small children had no choice but to stay home.
The RER B rail link to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports was effectively halted. And because some air traffic controllers were on strike, the French civil aviation authority limited the number of flights landing and taking off. Air France-KLM said it expected to maintain all of its long-haul flights, 90 percent of short- and medium-haul flights from Charles de Gaulle, and 50 percent of its short- and medium-haul flights from Paris-Orly.
The SNCF rail network said travelers can expect 40 percent of TGV fast trains to run, and 80 percent of Thalys trains to Belgium and the Netherlands will not be affected, new agencies reported. Eurostar trains to Britain are expected to run normally.
In London, two unions began a 24-hour job action during the evening rush hour Monday. Workers there oppose a plan by the Underground operator, Transport for London, to lay off 800 employees.
Sarkozy, who has been weakened in the polls by a scandal involving his labor minister, Éric Woerth, has vowed to push through with an overhaul of the national pension plan. The government argues that people must work longer if the system is to remain solvent. But many French people fear that a move to raise the minimum retirement age will be but the first step in a series of moves to whittle away at their cherished entitlements.
Union leaders were hoping for a turnout of 2 million or more demonstrators. Bernard Thibault, secretary general of the CGT labor union, told Europe 1 radio that the mobilization of demonstrators Tuesday would be the largest "in several years."
On Sunday, Claude Guéant, Mr. Sarkozy's chief of staff, said "some compromises" were possible, but that ultimately reform was necessary and the overhaul would go through largely as planned. France has hung on to a top AAA credit rating throughout the financial crisis, but some economists warn that the pressure of an aging population will make that difficult to maintain without reform.