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French strike action closes Calais port

There was more disruption to cross-Channel ferries on Monday when French sailors held a wildcat strike that led to the closure of the port of Calais.

Published: 29 June 2015 17:39 CEST
French strike action closes Calais port
Striking MyFerryLink workers have closed the port of Calais again. Photo AFP

MyFerryLink workers took strike action for the second time in a week on Monday that resulted in the closure of the port of Calais and ferry services to and from the UK being cancelled.

All ferry services between Calais and Dover in the UK are affected. 

A spokeswoman for the port of Calais said motorists are advised to avoid the port and to change their journey plans. “Ferry traffic has been completely suspended,” she told The Local.

Negotiations are currently ongoing to try to resolve the dispute but with MyFerryLink set to cease operations on Thursday, port authorities are concerned strike action could continue.

A source at the port told The Local: “We are a collateral victim in all this as are the other companies who operate here.”

Confused and frustrated passengers took to social media to complain about not being able to board their ferries.

The dispute centres around Eurotunnel's decision to sell two of the MyFerryLink boats, which were formerly SeaFrance, to Danish company DFDS. 
 
Once MyFerryLink ceases operations on Thursday DFDS will take over, but the Danish company has said it will only keep 202 out of 577 workers, reported the Reuters news agency.

MyFerryLink had wanted extra time to find a solution but on Monday a court in Boulogne dismissed their appeal, which prompted the latest strike action.

Their strike last Tuesday, when 200 MyFerryLink workers forced their way onto the railway tracks in Calais, saw the suspension of the Eurotunnel car and lorry-carrying train services and Eurostar passenger trains.
 
Migrants camping out in Calais proved a headache for police at the time after they seized a chance to climb aboard the trucks that were left waiting in an attempt to get to the UK. 

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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.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
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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