Public services ground to a halt in France on Tuesday, as hundreds of thousands of civil servants walked off the job, joining transportation workers who began striking a week ago.

The move meant some schools were closed, flights were delayed, postal service was slowed and newspapers weren't printed, while subways, buses and regular trains continued to sit idle.

"It's absolute chaos out on the streets," the CBC's David Common said, reporting from Paris.

He said there were reports of accidents and road rage, while traffic leading from the airport to the city was at a standstill.

Although unions walked off the job for different reasons, the transit strike is mainly a reaction to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to force sweeping reforms in France, including changes to pensions and plans to increase the retirement age. 

On Tuesday, Sarkozy stood by his reforms, saying he was elected in May with a mandate to make changes.

"We will not surrender and we will not retreat," he told a meeting of mayors in Paris. "France needs reforms to meet the challenges imposed on it by the world."

Sarkozy warned that the strikes could be devastating for the French economy. The government estimates the transit walkout alone is costing France's economy between $430 million and $505 million a day.

"You have to think of all of those who have to go to work," Sarkozy said.

There does seem to be some relief in sight, as the transport union and the government have suggested they might hold talks Wednesday. The government has insisted that for talks to start, unions must move toward a return to work.

The civil servants who joined the strike — teachers, customs agents, air traffic controllers, newspaper printers, utilities workers, meteorologists and others — are pressing for pay raises and job security in light of Sarkozy's promise to slim down and reform civil service.

Thousands participated in marches on Tuesday in Paris and other cities.

Discontent, meanwhile, is also brewing in France's universities. Students have been blocking classes at some of the country's 85 state-run universities to protest a law allowing the schools to seek non-government funding.

Critics fear the change will mean schools closing their doors to the poor and scrapping classes that can't attract private funding.

With files from the Associated Press