BORDEAUX, France, June 15 (UPI) -- Parts of Grenoble and Bordeaux were without electricity Tuesday as French power workers staged a strike against pending privatization of the utility.
The CGT union told the BBC the strikes reduced the output of France's biggest electrical company, EdF by 12 percent.
Demonstrations in Paris and in seven regional towns and cities were planned later in the day.
The strikes are timed to coincide with a parliamentary debate on a government proposal to transform EdF and the gas utility GdF into limited companies, a move which would pave the way for their partial privatization.
The center-right government wants to sell off up to 30 percent of EdF to fund investment in France's electricity network without putting its already overstretched finances under additional strain.
French industry minister Patrick Devedjian said the government would stand firm.
"The matter is being put before parliament, it represents the nation, and EdF belongs to the nation. Parliament will decide," he said.
