Long-suffering French train commuters were facing another day of traffic disruptions Tuesday as railway workers went on strike to protest the proposed reform of the country's pension system, dpa reported.
The job action was called by most major trade unions and was expected to affect many public sectors, including schools, post offices and state media. In addition, street protests were expected to take place in about 180 cities.
The state railway network SNCF said some two of three scheduled high-speed TGV trains were operating early Tuesday, as were about one of two scheduled regional and suburban commuter trains.
However, international trains, such as the Eurostar between London and Paris, were operating normally.
The strike comes just one day after President Nicolas Sarkozy sacked his labour minister, Xavier Darcos, following his party's severe electoral defeat in Sunday's regional elections.
The new labour minister, Eric Woerth, will now be entrusted with carrying out the reform to France's pension system, which Sarkozy has targeted as the most important issue of his five-year term.
Meetings between Sarkozy and union leaders to discuss the pension reform were expected to take place later this month and in April.
But some unions are emphasizing other issues in the strike, such as job security, working conditions and the rising cost of living.
Francois Chereque, the head of the influential CFDT union, said the climate among workers was "explosive" because of rising unemployment and tensions at the workplace.