Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:55pm EDT  

By James Mackenzie

PARIS (Reuters) -

Up to 3 million people took to the streets across France on Thursday to protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy's handling of the economic crisis and demand more help for struggling workers.

The protests, which polls show are backed by three-quarters of the French public, reflect growing disillusion with Sarkozy's pledges of reform as the crisis has thrown tens of thousands out of work and left millions more worried about their jobs.

Bright spring sunshine helped the turnout and the total reported by union organizers surpassed the 2.5 million seen on an earlier day of protest on January 29.

Streets in central Paris were packed with protesters waving anti-Sarkozy placards and chanting slogans, with badges reading "Get lost you little jerk!," a comment made by Sarkozy to a protestor at an agriculture show, much in evidence.

"There are more and more workers who feel they are not responsible for this crisis but that they are the main victims of it," said Bernard Thibault, head of the CGT, one of the eight trade unions organizing the strikes.

More than 2 million people are out of work in France and even many with a job struggle with the high cost of living.

A large public sector payroll and a relatively generous welfare state has kept French people better protected than many in other countries, but there has been deep public anger at plant closures and stories of corporate excess.

Sarkozy, elected in 2007 on a pledge to shake up the French economy, has seen his approval ratings plunge as he has poured billions into bailing out banks and carmakers but rejected union demands for higher pay and tax hikes for the rich.

"People are in the streets and they are suffering, there are more and more people out of work and something has to be done," said Sylvie Daenenck, marching in Paris. "We shouldn't just be giving money to the bosses."

LIMITED ROOM FOR MANOEUVRE

The CGT said 3 million people had joined the protests in Paris and provincial towns and cities, although the interior ministry said only 1.2 million took part.

"We haven't moved up to another stage in terms of participation since January 29," Raymond Soubie, Sarkozy's adviser on social affairs told RTL radio. But he added: "It is a very significant movement that we have to pay close attention to."

He said measures already passed to help low income workers and pensioners would begin to have an impact from next month but he ruled out extra aid in response to the protests.

Sarkozy's room for maneuver has been limited by the dire state of French public finances, which have been drastically strained by the need to prop up the fragile financial sector.

France expects its budget deficit to exceed five percent of gross domestic product in 2009, breaking the three percent ceiling imposed by European Union fiscal discipline rules, due to lower revenues and expensive fiscal stimulus packages.

A series of disputes, ranging from strikes by university staff to unruly protests by workers at a tire plant in northern France, have underlined a worsening climate of discontent that the government fears could escalate.

Workers at the Continental tire factory pelted managers with eggs at the protest this week and the government and business leaders have been acutely aware of the danger of unrest spilling over into the kind of violence seen in the urban riots of 2005.

Transport, energy and some government offices were all affected and unions said there was also strong participation by workers from the private sector, although there was no general shutdown of the economy.

The unions have presented a long list of demands, including a boost for the low-paid, more measures to protect employment, a tax hike for high earners and a halt to public sector job cuts.

The government has introduced a 26 billion euro ($36 billion) stimulus plan aimed at business investment, and after the January 29 strike Sarkozy offered 2.65 billion euros of additional aid to help vulnerable households weather the storm.

But the gravity of the situation was underlined by an OECD forecast leaked by a Slovenian government minister indicating the French economy will contract by 3.3 percent this year, more than twice the government forecast.

($1 = 0.73 euros)

(Additional reporting by Gerard Bon, Crispian Balmer, Laure Bretton, Clement Dossin and Elizabeth Pineau, Marc Parrad in Rouen, Pierre Thebault in Nice; Editing by Jon Boyle)