French Prime Minister Francois Fillon appealed on Wednesday for an end to the strike, and for the resumption of work, in the transports sector, notably at the state railway company (SNCF) and the Paris transport authority (RATP).

 

He made this appeal in parliament during question time, saying "the French can no longer stand this nightmare."

 

"For the French who can no longer stand this nightmare, it is time to end these strikes, to resume work at SNCF as well as at RATP while negotiations get underway," said the prime minister.

 

In addition, he described as "criminal acts" the sabotage which has been committed along the high-speed train (TGV) service lines, and vowed to institute "severe punishment" to those responsible.

 

The strike against the reform of the special retirement regimes entered its second week at SNCF, while negotiations between the unions and the government begun Wednesday.

 

Fires were reported on Tuesday night on trunk cables of various TGV service lines, while signal switches were also closed, forcing SNCF to divert the high-speed trains to classical lines.

 

SNCF management denounced a "coordinated sabotage campaign" "aimed at blocking the resumption of transport services."

 

On their part, the majority of the unions affiliated to SNCF condemned these actions which caused major delays.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2007)