Paris ? French unions split Friday over whether to pursue a strike that has hobbled transport nationwide, with some voting to keep the walkout going through the weekend.

Nearly 68 percent of employees for the national rail network went back to work, up from 38.5 percent on Wednesday, the first full day of the strike.

The division gave French President Nicolas Sarkozy the upper hand in his plans to strip away the generous pension benefits of many transport workers.

The unions were having trouble persuading the rank-and-file workers to stay off the job, compromising their hopes of forcing Sarkozy to back down.

One important union, CFDT-Cheminots, urged workers to return to work for now, saying the protest was losing momentum and calling for negotiations. Sarkozy’s spokesman, David Martinon, pressed strikers to stand down.

“Travelers continue to be seriously penalized by a movement that has no more reason to continue,” he said.