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GOOD SUPPORT: Polls show Mr Sarkozy enjoys public backing for his stand. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS - FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy - elected six months ago on a promise of radical change - was heading into his 'Thatcher moment' last night as a showdown with striking workers began.
Commuters were dusting off old bicycles and airing their walking shoes as trade unions prepared to bring chaos to the rail network in protest against plans to end historical pension privileges enjoyed by around 500,000 rail and energy employees.
But several hours before the start of the strikes, Mr Sarkozy appeared determined to maintain his reputation as a tough-minded reformer.
'I will pursue these reforms to the end,' he told the European Parliament.
'Nothing will blow me off course.'
The open-ended strike will bring major disruption to national rail network SNCF and bring the Paris Metro to a near standstill.
Labour Minister Xavier Bertrand told France 2 television: 'Tomorrow is going to be a hellish day for travellers and perhaps for many days beyond that.'
And with other protests by students, lawyers and civil servants also brewing - together with growing public disquiet about the cost of living - commentators said the President could be set for the kind of epoch-making showdown pioneered by former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the early 1980s.
'Mrs Thatcher warned that things would be hard. Some found her reforms odious, but she had the courage to be unpopular. The question is, does Sarkozy have the same courage to be unpopular?' asked Mr Eric Brunet, author of Being Rightwing - A French Taboo.
But Mr Sarkozy can find comfort in a survey published on Monday showing 55 per cent of French believe the transport strike is 'not justified'.
The findings by the BVA polling institute show that public opposition has increased by two percentage points since the previous transport strike on Oct 18, when a similar poll was taken.
The last time a government tried to reform the so-called 'special' pension systems was in 1995, when three weeks of strikes and demonstrations forced the government under newly elected president Jacques Chirac into a humiliating climbdown.
But this time, ministers say, the situation is different because the climate of opinion has changed - a majority supports the pensions reform - and because Mr Sarkozy clearly spelled out his intentions in his May election manifesto.
And Mr Bertrand said any retreat from the planned reforms was 'unthinkable', adding: 'It is the French people who want equal treatment.'
The 'special' systems are enjoyed by 16 separate categories of workers, who can retire after 371/2 years instead of 40 years and have their pensions calculated on the basis of final salary rather than an average over their whole career.
Invoking social equity, Mr Sarkozy has moved to bring the 'special' regimes in line with the rest of the population - and the ensuing confrontation has become a symbolic battle of wills over the whole of his reform agenda.
Indeed, the left-wing opposition has accused Mr Sarkozy of actively seeking a confrontation to deal a defeat to the unions.
'Rather than using the remaining time to seek a way out from the conflict, the government and the President want maximum tension,' said Socialist Party national secretary Bruno Le Roux.
The atmosphere has been soured further by protests from students complaining about a university reform law, and from lawyers and magistrates angry at moves by Justice Minister Rachida Dati to reorganise the local courts system.
On Nov 20, civil servants intend to call a 24-hour strike against plans to cut the state payroll, and some union organisers hope this week's rail strikes can be extended so the anti-government movements become one.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
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