France braced for nationwide one-day strike

The strike is set to be the biggest since President Nicolas Sarkozy took power in May 2007 and is a sign of rising social discontent as the eurozone’s second largest economy sinks into recession.

In July Mr Sarkozy remarked that “when people go on strike nobody notices”. He may come to regret such hubris.

The strike is a challenge to Mr Sarkozy’s economic policy and reform programme. But how big a challenge depends on how many people take part and to what extent employees in the private sector - where union membership is lower than in many other developed economies - join in.