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(The following Reuters article appeared on the New York Times’ website on June 3.)

PARIS — French commuters struggled into work on crowded buses and trains on Tuesday and airports were deathly quiet as public sector employees held more strikes over the government’s planned pension reforms.

The latest in a series of protests over plans to make people work longer for state pensions, the action halved train and bus services in Paris and an air traffic controllers’ strike grounded 80 percent of flights in and out of France.

Less severe than the stoppages of May 13, dubbed “Black Tuesday,” the action still caused 150 km (90 miles) of traffic jams on roads into the capital, where a protest march is planned for the afternoon. Transport in Marseille and other cities was also hit.

Numerous schools were also closed by the tenth walkout in as many months by teachers over decentralization plans.

Postal workers, ambulance drivers, electricity workers, port workers and tollroad staff were among others on strike. Few leading French newspapers were printed.

The strikes, an echo of the 1995 protests that helped oust the last conservative government, come at an embarrassing time for President Jacques Chirac as he hosts the final day of the Group of Eight summit in the southeastern spa town of Evian.

Chirac ally Alain Juppe, prime minister in 1995 and the ill-fated planner of pension reforms back then, said on Tuesday he could not understand the latest unrest. “People should think twice before going out onto the streets,” he told RTL radio.

French unions are up in arms over plans to make public sector workers pay into the state pension system for 40 years, in line with the private sector, up from 37.5 years at present.

The government says the reform is vital to stave off a financial crunch in the pensions system as the population ages.

“You can’t decide reforms that will affect the lives of millions of people for decades without a proper debate,” said Bernard Thibault, head of the powerful CGT union.

“The current proposals will weaken the system and increase inequalities,” he told the online edition of daily Liberation.

AIRLINES HIT

The transport strikes, timed to coincide with a review of the reforms by a parliamentary committee, could hit some of those leaving the G8 summit which winds down on Tuesday.

While flights out of nearby Geneva were unaffected, trains from Evian to Paris, already stopped during the three-day summit for security reasons, will now not restart until Wednesday.

The action coincides with a strike over job cuts by the cabin staff of Alitalia which has forced the Italian flag carrier to cancel 200 flights scheduled for Tuesday.

German airline Lufthansa AG axed 97 out of 139 flights between Germany and France, and British Airways Plc expected to cancel at least 90 flights out of 120.

Air France is operating all its long-haul flights, but only 35 percent of its short and medium-haul flights. No-frills airline EasyJet Plc, Spanish carrier Iberia, and BMI British Midland also plan to cancel flights.

In Austria, rail and postal workers took part in the biggest nationwide strikes since World War II over plans to overhaul their costly pension system. Buses, trains and trams were out of service and car traffic was bumper-to-bumper around Vienna.