Offer put to rail strikers

Press, 10 January 1987, Page 8

Offer put to rail strikers

NZPA-Reuter Paris A plan to settle France’s 23-day-old rail strike goes before train drivers today, as other pay disputes threaten further electricity black-outs and another day of public transport chaos for Paris commuters. The French rail authority expressed hopes of ending the train drivers’ walk-out, but union leaders were pessimistic about an immediate solution, as widespread industrial chaos confronted the Prime Minister, Jacques Chirac. The strikes by communist-led unions yesterday forced Mr Chirac to postpone a visit to Canada. Rail strike leaders will assemble their members today to hear details of an offer put forward by the State-owned S.N.C.F. train authority in nine hours of negotiations yesterday. Interviewed yesterday on French television, one union leader complained that the S.N.C.F. offer contained nothing on working conditions — a key demand throughout the strike — and another said the proposals were only for short-term measures. The longest rail strike in the 40-year history of S.N.C.F. has brought cries of alarm from industry, and warnings that job layoffs loom if merchandise and raw material shipments are further delayed. Yesterday, Francois Perigot, president of the employers’ organisation, C.N.P.F., told a businedss forum that the strikes

have already been disastrous for the French economy.

The S.N.C.F. president, Philippe Essig, told French television yesterday that he hoped the train drivers would vote to return to work. He said he did not expect the strike to end today, but called the S.N.C.F., proposals an advance and said they signified “our desire for conciliation.’’ In a direct appeal to the strikers, he asked them, “tonight ... to stop this conflict, so that together we can again satisfy our clients.” A union leader told the television interviewer: “They didn’t give us what we need to stop the conflict.” The S.N.C.F. said about half the usual number of trains were running yesterday, but delays were common. In Marseille, strikers set engine-fuel fires on the tracks to prevent the MarseilleParis train from pulling out of the station. The train was five hours late. Meanwhile, labour unrest continued, elsewhere. Workers at the Paris Metro underground railway and bus system rejected a pay offer and pledged to continue their strike, which yesterday caused huge traffic jams for the fourth consecutive day. Power black-outs hit many parts of France because of a work stoppage at the State electrical and gas utility. Hospital authorities complained that lives were jeopardised because of operating rooms being plunged abruptly into darkness.