PARIS (Reuters) - Talks resumed on Tuesday between French truckers and employers on the third day of a crippling trucker strike, but an important employers group was absent from the negotiations for the time being. Representatives of all the principal truckers unions and of the UNOSTRA owners group met in the French capital for the first talks since the strike began on Sunday. But officials of the much larger Union of Transport Federations (UFT) stayed away from the discussions, as expected. UFT officials had announced earlier that they would consult their members before returning to talks, and probably would not join the negotiations until Wednesday. The strike by an estimated 350,000 transport industry workers began on Sunday in protest against what truckers say is the failure by most employers to carry out pledges to pay bonuses, raise salaries and improve work conditions after a strike a year ago. UNOSTRA and the unions had reached a wage agreement early on Sunday, but union members had later rejected the accord as too weak. The UFT represents 80 percent of France's trucking employers, including most of the larger firms, while UNOSTRA groups many small and medium-size transport firms.

Autor: RUTERS