Strike hits Paris games bid

PARIS’S bid to host the Olympics was yesterday overshadowed yesterday by a massive strike which hit public transport.

Planes trains and metros were cancelled, and postal workers and teachers stayed home in a nationwide day of defiance yesterday against government policies - notably plans to let the French work longer hours.

The strikes coincided with a visit by Olympic inspectors assessing the French capital’s bid to host the 2012 Summer Games.

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Paris, answering the call of unions for a massive turnout to defend France’s 35-hour working week.

Rush-hour road traffic snaked for miles outside the capital; many schools were shut; and newspapers devoted their front pages to the mess. Conservative daily Le Figaro carried the headline: “France Paralysed.”

Paris’s commuter trains were badly hit by the strike which started after rush hour on Wednesday and was to last until early today. Up to 80% of suburban lines were suspended.

The Paris Metro was severely disrupted, with two of the city’s 14 subway lines not running at all. Most buses, specially bedecked with flags to welcome the International Olympic Committee visitors, were running but service on a dozen lines was rerouted because of protests.