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STRIKES

Strike calendar in France: The days in June you might want to avoid travel

French rail strikes are due to continue until the end of the month and possibly on into the summer if some unions get their way. Meanwhile Air France staff are also set for a four day walk-out in a dispute over pay. Here are the dates you need to know about.

Published: 12 June 2018 17:03 CEST
Strike calendar in France: The days in June you might want to avoid travel
Photo: AFP

Even if President Emmanuel Macron looks likely to win his battle against the French rail unions, rail strikes are due to continue until the end of the month and possibly on into the summer if some unions get their way. 

Rail workers have staged weeks of rolling strikes against the plans, vowing to walk off the job two days out of every five until June 28. (Scroll down for calendar below)

Despite Tuesday June 12th's “day of rail anger” that caused a spike in delays and cancellations for France's 4.5 million daily rail passengers, the number of striking workers has steadily tapered off in recent weeks. One union, the CFDT even asked on Tuesday for the strike to be called off so school pupils can get to their exams.
   
The SNCF said 17.6 percent of workers took part on Tuesday — down from around 34 percent in April — although 53 percent of train drivers walked off the job.
 
But even though the overall number of strikers is dwindling, the fact that the number of drivers joining the industrial action remains above the 40 percent mark means there is still plenty of disruption on the rails.
 
While the majority of TGV services run as normal on most strike days, regional TER and Intercité services plus Transilien commuter trains around Paris are harder hit with just over half of services running.
 
If you need to travel on a strike day then you'll likely only know at 5pm the day before if your train is running. The SNCF website and the call centre on 3635 will be able to help you find out if your train is operating.
 
 
But it's not just rail workers who are striking in June.
 
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Air France unions have announced four new strikes days at the end of June in the latest move in a long-running pay dispute with the French flag carrier.
 
After 15 days of industrial action since February, unions representing the airline's workers have announced four more for the month of June. 
 
 
The new strike days are set to take place on Saturday June 23rd, Sunday June 24th, Monday June 25th and Tuesday June 26th in the next stage of the unions attempt to secure a 5.1 percent wage increase for employees at the airline.  
 
Overall previous strikes have seen around a quarter of Air France flights cancelled. The airline will normally contact you if you are affected.
 
Another protest currently ongoing in France is the blockades of fuel depots and oil refineries by farmers that began on Monday June 11th and was due to last for at least 3 days. Although unions have also suggested they may continue the action beyond Wednesday June 13th.
 
However the government is confident that the militant action will not lead to a fuel shortage as similar blockades have in recent years.
 
The calendar below shows the remaining rail worker strike days in blue, Air France strike days in red and the days when the blockades of fuel depots are due to take place in black.
 
However things may change suddenly so we will try to keep you updated.
 
 
 
 

 

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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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