Municipal police in Cannes have threatened to strike for less than one houron the opening day of the Cannes Film Festival, May 17.

Agence France Presse reports that disgruntled police officers unhappy withsanctions, pressures and insufficient safety measures have said they willregister their formal intent to strike on May 10 should no solutions be found.May 10 is the deadline to register in order to comply with the law and be ableto strike on opening night.

The idea appears to be for police to picket at the bottom of the famedred-carpeted steps for 55 minutes in what has been termed a "symbolic"operation. The unions concerned have previously held strikes in 2004 and 2005.

A meeting set to discuss the current issues with Cannes mayor BernardBrochand was cancelled this week thanks to the presence of certain higher-upswith whom the police are in conflict. A new meeting has been schedule for nextweek, however.