France hobbled by transport strike

PARIS, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Transportation throughout France was at a crawl Tuesday as seven labor unions struck for a single day to protest unemployment.

In as many as 150 cities, road and rail service was running at less than half capacity, including Paris' Metro subway service, the BBC reported.

In Marseilles and Lyon, buses and Metro trains were said to have ground virtually to a halt. In Toulouse, pickets at two major bus stations prevented any buses from running, CNN reported.

France's civil aviation authority said around 175 medium and short-haul flights would be canceled from Orly airport, while 212 would be cut from Charles de Gaulle airport.

Plans to privatize the SNCM ferry firm have already led to a week of unrest in the southern port of Marseille, causing a strike that stranded thousands of tourists on the island of Corsica for several days.

The unions are opposed to the economic policies of center-right Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, whom they blame for rising unemployment, wages with insufficient purchasing power and diminishing job security.