Police deployed to replace striking airport staff

French authorities ordered police to replace striking security staff at airports on Thursday as workers' unions called for new action in February to protest against government plans to make it more difficult for the aviation sector to strike.

By Alexander TURNBULL (video)
News Wires (text)

AFP - France on Thursday deployed police to Paris's main Charles de Gaulle airport to ensure a strike by security workers does not hamper holiday travel, the interior ministry said.

The strike by workers demanding wage increases continued for a seventh day on Thursday, but has so far had a limited impact on international flights, with only some delays reported.

The police officers will work alongside non-striking security workers and will be responsible for checking passengers and baggage, an interior ministry spokesman said.

President Nicolas Sarkozy had on Wednesday said the government would use "all necessary measures" to ensure the French holiday season was not "taken hostage" by the strike action.

Negotiations have so far failed to resolve the dispute and on Wednesday union representatives walked out of mediated talks.