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Article: French Civil Servants Strike To Protest Austerity Measures
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- October 11, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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PARIS, Oct. 10 -- Millions of civil servants staged the biggest
general strike in nearly a decade today to protest Prime Minister
Alain Juppe's austerity policies that many fear could threaten their
jobs and shrink France's munificent welfare state.
As trash piled up in the streets and traffic jams 10 miles long
snarled roads into the capital, up to 50,000 marchers gathered in
Bastille Square in warm sunshine to vent their dismay with the four-
month-old conservative government of President Jacques Chirac. Most
trains, buses, hospitals, schools and state-run enterprises ground to
a halt.
The "Black Tuesday" work stoppage was the most dramatic display
yet of the startling plunge in popularity ...