Protests Take Over France and Britain

French public transport workers and teachers joined the students' protests in order to force French officials to abandon the new job law. The protests caused delays on trains, airports and subways, paralyzing for some time public transportation.

According to the union, 700,000 people took part in the protests on the streets of Paris. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who is a potential candidate for the presidential elections next year, said the new CPE law is expected to reduce unemployment from the current 22.8%, while protesters say that the law only makes employers fire their workers more easily.

Concurring to recent opinion polls, more than 65% of French people oppose the new law. Villepin refused to withdraw the law, forcing it through the Parliament. However, he did invite for discussions unions and students, but their presence remains uncertain. Francois Chereque, from one of the unions, stated: "How do you want us to go (to meet Villepin) if he is giving us as precondition that we accept the CPE. After two months of conflict, this precondition is unacceptable."

In Britain, public sector workers gathered in order to protests against the new pension reforms. The Tower of London, schools, libraries, courts and even cemeteries were closed because of the protests, marking the biggest strike since the General one of 1926.

In Liverpool and Newcastle, road blocks were faced, while the Glasgow underground was shut and the Leeds-Bradford airport runway closed.