[News] Huge crowds join French strikes
Crowds clash with police in Paris
Huge crowds have taken to the streets in France to protest over
the handling of the economic crisis, causing disruption to rail
and air services.
Unions said 2.5m workers had rallied to demand action to protect
wages and jobs. Police put the total at 1m.
President Nicolas Sarkozy said concerns over the crisis were
legitimate and the government had to listen and act.
He will meet union and business leaders next month to discuss what
programme of reforms to follow this year, he said.
Overall, the government estimated that a quarter of the country's
public sector workers had joined the action, which was called by
eight major French unions. The unions put the figure higher.
A spokesman for the CGT union told AFP that 2.5m people across the
country had taken part in the day's protests. French police put
the number at just over 1m.
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CGT leader Bernard Thibault called on Mr Sarkozy to recognise the
gravity of the situation and "reassess his measures" to deal with
the economic crisis.
In Paris, police said some 65,000 demonstrators had joined a march
from the Place de la Bastille towards the centre of the city.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7857435.stm
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