After strike, pressure on 'deaf' Sarkozy

Opposition leaders piled pressure on French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday to boost low wages and cap executive bonuses after more than a million striking workers marched in anger at the government.

Factory and white collar workers from across the private sector joined a million civil servants on Thursday in France's second nationwide strike in two months to demand protection from the economic crisis. They were clamoring for measures to lift wages, boost consumer spending, and scrap an unpopular tax break for the highest earners.

Sarkozy's government on Thursday ruled out any hike to the minimum wage or new social spending to cushion the blow of the crisis, saying previous stimulus measures had yet to show effect.

But Jean-Claude Mailly, head of the FO union, told RTL radio that labor leaders were "determined to keep up the pressure". Union leaders were to meet later on Friday to decide on further action.

"Layoffs are on the rise, yet the government refuses to listen," Socialist party leader Martine Aubry said on France Inter radio.

"We need to keep up the pressure," fellow Socialist Segolene Royal told France Info radio. "The anger we saw on the streets can only grow, faced with a government and president who remain deaf and blind to the country's demands."

10 hurt in shooting

Ten people were wounded on Friday in a shooting incident near the Harmony nursery and elementary school in Lyon, regional and school authorities said. No children were hurt. Police were trying to find out where the shots originated.

AP

(China Daily 03/21/2009 page11)