French rail strike bites amid labour law standoff

French TGV trains (high speed train) are parked at a SNCF depot station in Charenton-le-Pont near Paris, France, May 31, 2016 as railway workers from the France's rail-operator SNCF will start a national railway strike on Tuesday evening. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Striking rail workers halted about half of French train services on Wednesday in a dispute over working time as a standoff between the militant CGT union and the Socialist government over a proposed labour law reform escalated.

CGT members voted to start rolling strikes at the country's 19 nuclear power plants from Wednesday evening to press demands to scrap the labour bill, and airline pilots announced a work stoppage late next week in a separate dispute over pay curbs.