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French public sector workers join rail strikers for day of protest

French public sector staff will join rail workers in striking Tuesday to protest reforms proposed by President Emmanuel Macron, with the country braced for possible major disruption.

French public sector workers join rail strikers for day of protest
File pic: People take part in nationwide strikes in October. Photo: AFP
The stoppages are part of a series of demonstrations by public sector employees against Macron, who has pledged to reduce public spending, trim jobs and overhaul large parts of the vast French state.
   
All unions representing civil servants have backed Tuesday's strike, a rare show of unity which was last seen around 10 years ago. 
   
Their walk-out, which will affect schools, public kindergartens, flights and some energy infrastructure, is the third stoppage since Macron's election in May 2017.
   
“Thanks to the civil service, all of the unions in this country will be together,” said labour leader Bernadette Groison from the FSU union. “That shows how high the stakes are.”
   
The centrist government plans public sector reforms next year which would lead to the greater use of contract workers for some state services and a cut of 120,000 jobs by 2022 out of 5.6 million.
 
Many civil servants fear that the government plans to scrap their special status and job-for-life privileges, a measure that has already been announced for new recruits on the state railways, the SNCF.
 
READ ALSO:

Scores of flights cancelled in France as air traffic controllers join strikePhoto: AFP   

That move on the railways, though generally supported by the French public, has sparked one of the longest strike sequences ever on the network which began at the beginning of April.
   
Workers have been downing tools every two days out of five since April 3 and will begin a new round of stoppages on Tuesday which has seen high-speed services and commuter trains badly affected.
   
But Macron has vowed to be uncompromising and promised to deliver on his rail reform promise and cuts to France's public spending, which was part of his election manifesto.
   
France has one of the biggest public sectors in Europe relative to the size of its economy and the country has not balanced its budget since the 1970s, leading to a public debt equivalent to nearly 100 percent of GDP.
   
But unions accuse Macron, a former investment banker, of wanting to destroy public services which are a vital source of employment and a pillar of communal life in many areas of the country.
   
Around 130-140 demonstrations have been organised by civil servants on Tuesday with unions hoping turnout will be higher than the last day of action on March 22 when an estimated 300,000 gathered nationwide.
 
These are the workers expected to join in the protests:
 
Education
 
Public creches will be disrupted by the day of action, with restricted opening hours and partial or total closures.
 
The main union for nursery and primary school staff, the SNUipp-FSU, expects participation to be equivalent to that of the last day of protest on March 22nd when about 20 percent of staff went on strike. 
 
There is likely to be less participation among those working in colleges and high schools because several Tuesdays have already been missed and they are currently in the middle of revision season, Frédérique Rolet, Secretary General of the SNES-FSU told the French press. 
 
File pic: Striking public sector workers in October. Photo: AFP
 
Transport workers
 
While rail workers aren't officially striking until Wednesday and Thursday, the Sud-Rail union which has filed for an unlimited strike notice, has called on its members to join the public service workers on the day of protests. 
 
Air traffic controllers are also joining the action, calling for more manpower as air traffic rises as well as better working conditions. France's Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has recommended airlines to reduce their flight program to Orly, Lyon and Marseille by 20 percent. 
 
On the roads, the FO transport and logistics union, which is also threatening to call a strike on June 3rd, is calling its workers to join Tuesday's action to support “without reservation” the struggles of public workers and railway workers.
 
Energy
 
The four unions representing energy workers — the CGT, CFE-CGC, CFDT and FO — have called on members to join in the strikes and protests to take a stand against the threats to their employee status.
 
If enough workers join, there may be a decrease in electricity production or even power cuts.
 
Health and social services
 
Large numbers of hospital and social services staff are expected to join the protests to demand better working conditions and more jobs in the sector.
 
However, precautions have been taken to ensure that the healthcare sector runs as normal throughout the day. 
 
Other public services
 
On the back of rumors about the possible loss of 4,000 jobs over the next three years, the Pôle Emploi (job centre) staff have been called on to strike by eight unions who consider it “inconceivable to cut jobs even though we are unable to support all jobseekers”. 
 
Staff at France's national weather agency, Météo-France, are also set to join the protests to voice their opposition to job cuts.
 
On top of that, postal workers and cultural and public broadcasting employees will also be on the streets.

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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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