Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:37am EST
By Estelle Shirbon
PARIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of French workers staged a nationwide strike on Thursday to try to force President Nicolas Sarkozy and business leaders to do more to protect jobs and wages during the economic crisis.
The strike, in a country with a strong protest culture, aimed to highlight fears over growing unemployment, discontent over Sarkozy's reluctance to help consumers and resentment toward bankers blamed for the economic slump.
It was the first such protest linked to the slump in a major industrialized nation and was backed by the majority of French voters, according to opinion polls.
It did not however paralyze activity as past strikes in France have done. The "black Thursday" announced by media beforehand did not quite materialize.
One in three schoolteachers and one in four staffers at the post office and the electricity company EDF walked off the job, and participation was high in many parts of the public transport network with erratic train, tram and bus services.
The strike cut 11,000 megawatts in power capacity, unions said, but EDF said supplies to customers would not be disrupted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE50S1MX20090129
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