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Air Algerie strike leaves thousands stranded

A strike by Air Algerie cabin crew who want a 106-percent pay rise left thousands of angry travellers stranded in Paris, Marseille and Nice airports on Wednesday, France's transport minister said.

The strike began on Monday and has led to the cancellation of dozens of the ailing state-run airline’s scheduled flights at a time when many French residents of north African origin make their annual trip to see relatives.

French Transport Minister Thierry Mariani on Wednesday summoned representatives from the airline, from the Algerian embassy and airport officials to try and find alternative ways of getting the travellers to their destinations.

The union representing the cabin crew said meanwhile that talks with airline bosses to resolve the dispute had ground to a halt.

“The negotiations have stalled. There has been no contact between thosestriking and the management since the day before the industrial action was launched,” said union president Yacine Hamamouche.

Hamamouche said a deal was close to being agreed before the strike but it collapsed at the last minute “and we still don’t know the reason”.

Hundreds of the passengers had slept overnight in Orly airport in Paris and in Marseille and Nice airports.

They had ignored Air Algerie’s request that passengers not show up at airports because of the strike, and on Wednesday reacted furiously when airline representatives, guarded by riot police, occasionally appeared.

Many passengers at Orly screamed “Liars! Thieves!” when one airline official explained that Air Algerie was doing its best to charter planes to get its passengers to their destinations in the former French territory.

“I paid €600 for a ticket. It’s disgraceful. Air Algerie is finished!” said Leila Boubekeur, as she sat on a camp bed provided by airport officials.

Algerian state radio on Tuesday quoted the airline’s chief, Mohamed Salah Boultif, as saying that Air Algerie, given its poor financial health, was in no position to grant the 106-percent pay hike sought by the strikers.

Boultif however pledged to agree to a 20-percent pay rise for all airline employees.

Air Algerie employs about 9,000 staff and flies to more than 70 destinations.

In February it announced a $700 million (€495 million) investment to increase its number of carriers from 42.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of 420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of 2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some 200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of 2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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