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.
@KatiaRTFrance Les salariés d'#ADP bloquent l'embarquement au terminal 2E à #Roissy, encadrés par les forces de l'ordre. Ils contestent le plan Pact de la direction qui impose des baisses de salaire. #cgt #unsa #fo #cfdt pic.twitter.com/5xWyKojNt6 pic.twitter.com/BBDc1ABTgw
— Katia RT France (@KatiaRTFrance) July 2, 2021
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.
⚠️Ven. 2/7: mouvement social de certains personnels Paris Aéroport. Perturbations sur les accès routiers & éventuels retards de vols à prévoir.
➡️Anticipez votre venue à #CDG #Orly
➡️Contactez votre compagnie aérienne pour vérifier l'actualité de votre volhttps://t.co/r5X8UznZHE— Paris Aéroport (@ParisAeroport) July 1, 2021
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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