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LIFE IN PARIS

WATCH: Victim of Paris bike theft mounts sting operation to catch the thieves

Now bike theft is something of an occupational hazard for cyclists in Paris, but when one Australian living in the city fell victim to thieves, she wasn't taking it lying down.

Published: 16 August 2019 15:43 CEST
WATCH: Victim of Paris bike theft mounts sting operation to catch the thieves
Video: Sam Davies

Australian Paris resident Carolyn Gorman was furious when her bike was stolen in the Marais district of the city.

But just three days later when browsing French small ads site Le Bon Coin, she noticed a very familiar looking bike for sale in the Paris region.

After confirming that it was her stolen bike, she and a friend rang the seller and arranged to meet the man, calling himself Chris, to look at the bike.

She then went to her local police station and told police when and where the meet-up was arranged.

When the seller arrived with her bike, two undercover officers swooped in and arrested him.

Carolyn and her fellow Aussie in Paris – and 'vigilante bike crime fighter' – Sam Davies later posted a video online showing how they had trapped the thieves.

 

Carolyn said: “Definitely if you have have your bike stolen check out the ones offered for sale online.”

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STRIKES

Striking workers block Paris airport terminal, flights delayed

Striking airport workers have blocked part Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, with some flights already delayed by at least one hour.

Published: 2 July 2021 12:29 CEST
Striking workers block Paris airport terminal, flights delayed
Striking airport workers outside Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris. Photo: Geoffroy van der Hasselt | AFP

Last month, trade unions representing workers at the Aéroports de Paris (ADP) – the city’s Charles-de-Gaulle-Roissy and Orly airports – called for a strike between July 1st and July 5th in an ongoing dispute between French airport workers and bosses over contract renegotiations.

A second wave of protests are expected next week, after a strike notice was filed for July 9th.

Tensions mounted on Friday morning as some 400 protesters staged a raucous demonstration at CDG’s terminal 2E, which mostly deals with flights outside the Schengen zone, as police officers looked on.

At Orly airport, meanwhile, some 250 people demonstrated “outside”, while a small group was inside.

The dispute is over a long-term plan by ADP to bring in new work contracts for employees at the airports, which unions say will lower pay, job losses and a reduction in rights and bonuses for employees.

The strike is being jointly called by the CGT, CFE-CGE, Unsa, CFDT and FO unions, who said in a joint press release that the proposals will “definitively remove more than a month’s salary from all employees and force them to accept geographical mobility that will generate additional commuting time”.

Unions say that staff face dismissal if they do not sign the new contracts.

ADP said on Wednesday that it expected ‘slight delays for some flights but no cancellations’ to services – but it urged travellers to follow its social media operations for real-time updates.

On Thursday, the first day of action, 30 percent of flights were delayed between 15 minutes and half-an-hour.

ADP’s CEO Augustin de Romanet had said on Tuesday that ‘everything would be done to ensure no flight is cancelled’. 

ADP reported a loss of €1.17 billion in 2020. 

Stressing that discussions are continuing over the proposed new contracts, the CEO called for “an effort of solidarity, with a red line: no forced layoffs.”

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