PARIS, Dec 11: French Prime Minister Alain Juppe opened negotiations with trade union leaders today to seek an end to an 18-day public service strike that has crippled transport, reports Reuter.

Juppe's first meeting was with Louis Viannet. General Secretary of the communist -•led CGT Union. He was due to meet other union leaders one-by-one throughout the day after announcing concessions on pensions and rail reform on Sunday.

Arriving for the meeting. Viannet told reporters: "All the information reaching us from mass meetings in the sectors on strike shows not only that the strikers' determination to fight Is Intact but also that the prime minister's (television) appearance has made them more angry."

It was up to Juppe to create the conditions for ending the strike. "For the moment, they do not exist." he said.

"The workers are as determined to achieve the withdrawal of Jupee's (social se-

curity reform) plan as they are to have the state railway contract withdrawn." Viannet said.

Juppe announced concessions on public sector pensions and the retirement age for train and Paris metro drivers on Sunday, as well as delaying a rail plan pending negotiations, but he Insisted he would stick to a plan for higher taxes, health cost controls and management reforms to wipe out the welfare system's huge debts.