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STRIKES

French unions announce new day of strikes and protests

French unions will hold another day of strikes and protests against pension reform on April 13th, leaders was announced on Thursday evening.

Published: 6 April 2023 19:32 CEST
French unions announce new day of strikes and protests
Protesters march during the 11th day of action against pension reform, in Toulouse, southern France, on April 6, 2023. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

The eight union federations are planning a further one-day strike action on Thursday, April 13th, union leaders confirmed on Thursday evening.

It will be the 12th official day of joint union action against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform, that awaits to be given the green light by the country’s Constitutional Council.

The April 13 protest will come one day before a ruling from France’s Constitutional Council on the legality of the pension reform.

Famous Paris restaurant targeted amid clashes during pension protests

News of the new upcoming strike date came on the evening of another one-day strike on Thursday, which saw some services disrupted. For the first time on a strike day, the Paris metro system ran with minimal disruption, and high-speed train services were less affected than in previous weeks.

Marches again took place across the country, and there were some clashes between police and protesters. In particular, a well-known Paris restaurant was partially set ablaze, and in the western city of Nantes, some radical protesters threw rocks at police, who responded with tear gas, an AFP photographer saw.

Paris’ police prefecture estimated that 57,000 people demonstrated in the capital on Thursday, down from the previous day of action on March 28th when the authorities counted 93,000 demonstrators. Nationally, France’s interior ministry estimated that 570,000 people marched on April 6th.

In contrast, unions said 400,000 people took to the streets in Paris, in contrast to 450,000 during the previous day of action.

Keep up to date with the latest on strike action with our strike calendar HERE

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STRIKES

Paris garbage collectors strike as city readies for Olympics

Paris garbage collectors went on strike on Tuesday, two-and-a-half months before the French capital is due to host the Summer Olympic Games.

Published: 15 May 2024 09:44 CEST
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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