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STRIKES

How the public sector strike will hit France on Tuesday

Public sector workers – including school staff and nurses – across France are set to strike on Tuesday after unions called for walkouts in a protest over pay and the rising cost of living.

Published: 18 March 2024 10:31 CET
Updated: 19 March 2024 08:14 CET
How the public sector strike will hit France on Tuesday
(Photo by ERIC FEFERBERG / AFP)

In a joint statement, the CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT, FA, FO, FSU, Solidaires and UNSA unions said: “We urgently need to open negotiations to improve career prospect and take general measures to improve pay, in particular by raising the index point, at a time when public sector pay levels are collapsing.”

The inter-union group wishes to “put an end to the spiral of stigmatisation and devaluation of all civil servants”.

Mobilisations will take place across the country. In Paris, the march will start at 2pm, departing from the Luxembourg Gardens.

Unions representing civil servants are calling for “an immediate 10 percent increase in the value of the index point, and the recovery of purchasing power lost since January 2000”.

School staff are set on strike this Tuesday in primary schools, collèges (secondary/middle schools) and lycées (high schools). In some areas, such as the Loire-Atlantique, they are expected to remain closed through to the end of the week.

Meanwhile, school canteens may not provide lunches and parents will be obliged to provide a picnic lunch, while creches and day-care centres may remain closed. 

In France, primary school teachers must give 48 hours notice before walking out, while secondary school teachers are not required to give any notice.

Independent nurses will also be on the streets this Tuesday, with rolling road blockades (operation escargot) organised in Caen (Calvados), Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) and Montpellier (Hérault).

The Syndicat National des Infirmiers et Infirmiers Libéraux, which represents self-employed nurses, has demanded an increase in fees for their services, some of which have not increased since 2009, reimbursements for business expenses, including fuel for travel, and have called for greater efforts to improve working conditions.

There are 5.7 million public sector (fonction publique) workers across France.

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STRIKES

Ryanair cancels 300 flights set to fly over France due to strike

The budget airline Ryanair announced on Wednesday that it had been forced to cancel more than 300 flights set to fly over French airspace on Thursday, due to strike action by air traffic controllers that was cancelled at the last-minute.

Published: 25 April 2024 08:47 CEST
Ryanair cancels 300 flights set to fly over France due to strike

In a press release published on Wednesday, Ryanair announced that 300 of their flights had been cancelled due to a planned strike by French air traffic controllers (ATC).

“Even though it’s French ATC that are striking, most disrupted passengers are not flying to/from France but overfly French airspace en route to their destination (e.g., UK – Greece, Spain, Italy),” the company said.

According to Ryanair estimates, 50,000 passengers would be affected in some way. 

The main union participating in the strike announced on Wednesday morning that it had reached a deal with management and would be calling off industrial action, but the announcement came too late and many flights had already been cancelled. 

As a result, significant delays and widespread cancellations were still expected on Thursday.

READ MORE: ‘75% of flights cancelled’: Which French airports will be worst affected by Thursday’s disruption?

Why are overflights affected?

The overflights pass through French airspace on their way to another country, and they make up a significant percentage of the flights handled by French air traffic controllers on a daily basis.

During strikes by French air traffic controllers, overflights are likely to be delayed or diverted as airlines seek alternatives routes that go around France, rather than over it. Often, there are also cancellations, as is the case for Ryanair. 

Can I still get a refund due to a delay or cancellation of an overflight?

In terms of compensation, it makes little difference whether your flight is to/from France or simply over it, as EU compensation rules apply to all flights that either arrive at or depart from an airport in the EU/Schengen zone, or are operated by an EU-registered carrier.

Find full details on your rights and how to claim refunds HERE.

Are there plans to protect overflights?

Ryanair has been pushing for greater overflight protection for a long time, and they made several calls for change during the 2023 protests against pension reform when a number of air traffic control strikes were called.

READ MORE: Cancellations and compensation: How French strikes affect European flights

In their Wednesday memo, the company called again for the EU Commission to take action to protect overflights.

“French air traffic controllers are free to go on strike, that’s their right, but we should be cancelling French flights, not flights leaving Ireland, going to Italy, or flights from Germany to Spain or Scandinavia to Portugal.

“The European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen has failed for 5 years to take any action to protect overflights and the single market for air travel. We’re again calling on her to take action to protect overflights which will eliminate over 90 percent of these flight cancellations,” Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said in the memo.

The company has also released a petition to ‘‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’, which has over 2.1m signatures.

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