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France hit by strike on the eve of holidays
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Travelers across France scrambled on Saturday to begin their Christmas getaways with trains canceled, roads jam-packed and nerves tested as a strike over a pension overhaul shows no signs of letting up.
Hopes of a holiday truce were dashed after talks between the government and union leaders this week failed to ease the standoff, with train operator SNCF warning the traffic would be 鈥渟everely disrupted鈥 over the festive period.
SNCF said its aim to allow 850,000 ticket holders to travel this weekend was being upheld 鈥 but only half of its usual services were running.
鈥淚鈥檓 upset. This strike is unbearable ... The government must do something,鈥 said Jeffrey Nwutu Ebube, who was in the northern port town of Le Havre trying to find a way back home to the southern city of Toulouse, some 850 kilometers away.
Late Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron called on the strikers to embrace a 鈥渟pirit of responsibility鈥 and for 鈥渃ollective good sense to triumph.鈥
鈥淚 believe there are moments in the life of a nation when it is also good to call a truce to respect families and the lives of families,鈥 he said.
Many stranded travelers have turned to car rental agencies or sharing platforms since the strike began on December 5, but the last-minute surge in demand meant vehicles were hard to come by.
鈥淲e tried other ways, BlaBlaCar, etc, but everything is full, everything is taken,鈥 said Jerome Pelletier, a textile manager.
President Macron wants to forge the country鈥檚 42 separate pension regimes into a single points-based system.
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