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Travellers in France warned transport strikes could hit trains and planes

People travelling by plane or train in France on Thursday could face transport disruptions after three of the country's leading workers' unions called for members to down tools in response to the government's "liberal reforms".

Published: 16 November 2017 10:19 CET
Travellers in France warned transport strikes could hit trains and planes
File photo: AFP
Several of France's unions including hardline CGT, FO and Solidaire have called for transport workers to strike on Thursday. 
 
Around a 170 strikes will take place around the country in response to President Emmanuel Macron's “liberal reforms” which started with his highly controversial changes to France's enshrined labour code.
 
Macron has already signed off his controversial reforms but nevertheless they need to be debated in parliament once again before they come into law and will be put to a vote on November 28th.
 
Unions however are not willing to give up the fight and say Thursday's strike is about keeping up the pressure on Macron. But it looks like they won't be able to create much pressure given what is expected to be a low turn-out.
 
Protesters in Paris will march between Place de la Republique and Nation, but their numbers are not expected to be great.
 
 
 
Although disruptions to the country's transport network are expected to be minor, some journeys including those involving trains outside the Paris region, are more likely to be affected than others. 
 
Here's what's expected:
 
Around France
 
Bus and tram services are not operating n many towns around France or have been severely disrupted.
 
Most train users can breathe a sigh of relief with France's national rail company SNCF expecting “normal” traffic on the TGV and Transilien (Ile-de-France) network.
 
However disruptions are predicted on the regional TER and Intercités networks, where 20-33 percent of trains face cancellation. Bus replacement services will be laid on in many areas.
 

 
Airlines
 
Some disruptions are expected for people flying on Thursday, said France's civil aviation authority, the DGAC.
 
Although the authority did not ask airline companies to take pre-emptive measures, replacement air traffic controllers will be on call in Reims, Athis-Mons, Brest, Bordeaux and Aix. 
 
Paris region
 
It doesn't look like people travelling around the Paris region will be too affected by the strike, with the capital's transport network, the RATP expecting everything to run as normal on “most of the network” which includes the Metro, RER trains, buses and trams. 
 

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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