Paris, May 4 (AFP) A fund set up to compensate striking French rail workers for their wage losses passed the 1-million-euro (USD 1.2-million) mark today, a month after they began disrupting train services over the government's planned overhaul of the railways.

More than 26,000 donors have contributed to the fund set up on March 23 on the Leetchi crowd-funding site for employees of troubled state train operator SNCF.

On April 3, staff began walking off the job two days out of every five over President Emmanuel Macron's bid to cut operating costs as well as the SNCF's 46 billion euros (USD 55 billion) in debt.

The strikes, scheduled to continue until the end of June, have caused travel misery for millions but Macron has refused to back down in a battle seen as a test of his ability to withstand union pressure.

"I believe, as the unions do, that we need a strong rail service, a strong SNCF, and I respect their struggle," Macron said in a TV interview in mid-April to mark the first anniversary of his arrival in office.

"But I am going to see this through to the end," he vowed.

As the weeks go by, more and more SNCF workers are drifting back to work. Some 57 per cent of train drivers took part in the seventh round of stoppages yesterday, and about 63 per cent this morning, down from 77 per cent at the start.

One out of two high-speed TGV and two regional trains out of five were operating, up from an eighth of TGVs and a fifth of regional trains in early April.

The unions oppose the transformation of the SNCF into a joint-stock company whose shares would be held by the state -- a move they see as a first step towards privatisation -- and the denial of early retirement and job-for-life guarantees for new hires.

They also want assurances that their benefits remain untouched if a private operator takes over part of the railways once France starts opening its passenger rail market starting in 2020, in line with EU rules.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said that some issues will still be up for negotiation when he and other officials meet with unions for talks on Monday, including the amount of SNCF debt the state might take on.

But he told France Bleu radio there were also "elements which are very clear and are not negotiable," including opening the French passenger rail market to competition.

The strike has cost the operator more than 250 million euros so far, SNCF deputy chief Patrick Jeantet said.

Unions have vowed to press ahead, carrying out demonstrations across France on Friday and warning of a complete rail shutdown for May 14 if the government doesn't give ground.

Around 100 people briefly occupied the headquarters of Macron's Republic on the Move party in central Paris.

"The government thought this would be over in 10 days. Here we are on May 4 and there are as many of us as on April 9," said Jean-Christophe Gossart of the CGT union at a protest in Dijon, eastern France.

Their protests are among several contesting Macron's reform drive for the French economy, with many public servants, pensioners and students also opposed to his plans.

Sit-ins at several universities have halted classes and disrupted exams in recent weeks against a plan to introduce more selective entry criteria to curb overcrowding and high dropout rates.

The sit-ins even spread to one of France's most elite universities this week, the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, which produced philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Michel Foucault.

But Normale Sup, as the school is known, said the blockade was lifted late yesterday without any police intervention -- as has been the case at other sites -- and courses are set to resume today. (AFP) SMJ

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