French public sector workers take part in a demonstration to protest over job cuts and to demand more pay. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Teachers, hospital workers, firefighters and postal workers were among those who answered the call from seven of eight public servants' union to strike and march on Thursday.

Across the country, some 400,000 people took to the streets, according to the CGT labour union. They jammed streets in Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux and the southern port city of Marseille.

Unions claimed that up to 40,000 marched in Paris, while city police put the figure at 17,000. Civil Servants Minister Eric Woerth told LCI television that strikers represented 13.2 per cent of the three sectors - not including transport workers - taking part in the strike.

'This is a manoeuvre that amounts to a labour union ritual,' said Mr Woerth, adding that he would have preferred 'a logic of dialogue, not confrontation'.

Mr Francois Chereque, leader of the moderate CFDT union, asked the conservative-led government to open salary talks, and complained that President Nicolas Sarkozy has failed to deliver better buying power to the French.

'Today, the objective is purchasing power and we're addressing employers,' the state, said Mr Chereque, echoing a common criticism for Mr Sarkozy's drop in popularity to below 50 per cent, according to recent polls.

After three strikes by transport sector workers, Thursday's walkout was a reply to December negotiations when the government rejected union demands for an across-the-board salary hike.

The walkout drew fewer protesters than a similar strike in November, when unions estimated that about 700,000 people took part. -- AP