BY NAOMI CRAINE

As we go to press, 1.6 million public workers in France joined a one-day strike October 17, crippling transportation, closing schools, and affecting other services. According to Associated Press, tens of thousands of strikers marched in Paris protesting the austerity drive by the government of prime minister Alain Juppé. Demonstrations also took place in Marseilles, Strasbourg, and other cities.

Rail workers began walking off the job the night before, stopping two-thirds of the normal train service. Only about 15 percent of the scheduled flights operated from the Paris airports. Postal and utility workers, medics, and teachers were also among the strikers. About one-third of the 5 million public workers in France participated in the protest actions.

The Juppé government is pushing for a pay freeze for state workers, job cuts, and other measures in hopes of entering the so-called European Monetary Union on an equal footing with the German capitalists. Meanwhile unemployment in France is at a near-record high - officially 12.6 percent.

Massive demonstrations and strikes last December held back some aspects of the "Juppé plan," such as raising the retirement age for rail workers, but did not reverse the government's general austerity course. Other protests and strikes are planned for the next three weeks, ranging from retirees opposing cuts in benefits to truckers protesting a planned price increase for diesel fuel.  
 
 
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