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Unions call Paris transport strikes from March 7th

Unions representing workers on the Paris public transport system have called a 'renewable' strike starting on March 7th, as hundreds of thousands of people once again took to the streets of France to protest over pension reform.

Published: 11 February 2023 17:13 CET
Updated: 13 February 2023 08:37 CET

Unions call Paris transport strikes from March 7th

A protester holds a placard reading "Macron, you treat us like idiots" during a demonstration against the planned pension reforms. Photo by JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP

So far, the mass strikes in protest at plans to reform the French pension system have taken the form of repeated one-day actions, but on Saturday evening the eight main union federations announced a ‘renewable’ strike on the Paris public transport network, beginning on Tuesday, March 7th.

Unions representing workers around France had already called a one-day strike on March 7th, but unions representing workers on the capital’s RATP network have decided that their action will be ongoing.

“If the government still does not hear the determination of workers, young people and all those who support this united movement to express their anger at this new injustice, it will have to accept responsibility for the blocking of the economy in our country,” said the union statement.

They called for “a strike that can be renewed from March 7th in order to have an even stronger impact”.

Saturday represented the latest “day of action” in the ongoing battle against pension reform, and saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in towns and cities across France.

READ ALSO: French pension strikes calendar

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Paris garbage collectors strike as city readies for Olympics

Paris rubbish collectors had warned of possible strikes over the summer, raising the spectre of piles of trash roasting in summer heat on the streets as hordes of athletes and tourists descend on the City of Light.

ANALYSIS: How likely is strike chaos during the Paris Olympics?

Unions and City Hall differed on how many of the collectors had walked off the job on Tuesday.

Paris city hall said that 16 percent of staff, or one in six, were striking.

“Collection services were little affected today,” a City Hall official told AFP, without providing further details.

But the CGT union branch that represents garbage collectors, hailed a “strong” mobilisation effort, saying that 70-90 percent of staff, depending on the arrondissement, had walked off the job.

CGT said that some 400 striking workers had “occupied” the building housing city hall’s human resources department on Tuesday morning.

City Hall put the number at 100 and said they had left by 12 noon.

CGT had warned that walkouts would occur on several days in May and then continue from July 1st to September 8th.

Summer Olympics will run in Paris from July 26th until August 11th, and the Paralympic Games from August 28th to September 8th.

Refuse workers in the Paris region are demanding an extra €400 per month and a one-off €1,900 bonus for those working during the Olympics, when French workers traditionally take time off for the summer holidays.

The mayor’s office had previously told AFP that it would extend bonuses of between €600 and €1,900 that it had already announced for workers contributing to the Olympics effort to refuse collectors.

The mayor of Paris’s 17th arrondissement, Geoffroy Boulard, said the strike was “irresponsible”.

“To take hostage not only Parisians but also tourists and visitors is also an attack on France’s world image,” he said.

In March last year, a three-week strike by rubbish collectors against unpopular pensions reform saw more than 10,000 tonnes of waste piled in Paris streets at its height.

Images of the heaps of trash, some mounting several metres high, were seen around the world.

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