Christian mayhem feared as transport strike paralyzes Paris

France reeled under a crippling public transport strike for a 10th day Saturday aimed at forcing the government to scrap a pension reform, as fears grew of travel mayhem during Christmas.

According to Press TV, train traffic was severely disrupted with only one out four high speed long-distance trains and three of 10 regional trains running across the country.

But Paris and its environs remained the worst hit. Nine metro lines in the capital remained closed and there were skeletal transport services between the city and its suburbs.

Only 60 percent of the city's bus services were running.

Strikers have warned of similar disruptions on Sunday and Monday.

On Saturday, the managing director of the national rail operator SNCF Rachel Picard, told Le Parisien daily that "half of the passengers" would have trains to visit family for Christmas" but did not elaborate.

Unions are hoping for a repeat of 1995, when they forced a rightwing government to back down on pension reform after three weeks of metro and rail strikes just before Christmas.

The prospect of a protracted standoff has businesses fearing big losses during the crucial year-end festivities, and travelers worried that their holiday plans will fall through.

On Friday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe asked SNCF Chief Jean-Pierre Farandou to draw up a list of exactly which trains would be running during the festive season.

"If the government wants the conflict to end before the holidays, they have all of next week to take the wise decision and scrap the point-based pension plan," Laurent Blum, the General Secretary of the hard-line CGT-Cheminots, the main SNCF union, told AFP.

The reform would do away with 42 separate regimes, some of which offer early retirement and other benefits to public sector workers such as train drivers, dockers and even Paris Opera employees.

The strike organisers have announced a massive protest for Tuesday when tens of thousands are expected to take to the streets again.

Meanwhile teachers, who have been mobilized since the start of the protest, on Friday gained guarantees from the government of salary reviews which would cost the state 10 billion euros. The details were not revealed.

ME