French general strike today
Serious disruption to all freight services for 24 hours
A one-day general strike in France today, against government plans to increase the statutory retirement age, is hitting rail services, ports and, to a lesser extent, air transport.
State rail operator SNCF’s main staff unions began industrial action at 8pm last night which is scheduled to last until 8am tomorrow (8 September).
Its freight division, Fret SNCF, has warned customers it expects “serious disruption” to services.
The protest at SNCF also encompasses other issues, including the reform of Fret SNCF – in particular, radical cutbacks in the single-wagon network that have not only been condemned by the unions but also by French shippers, environmental protection associations and left-wing politicians.
French port and dock workers’ federation the FNPD-CGT is also supporting the day of action and container traffic is at a standstill at Marseille-Fos port. IFW understands it is a similar picture at Le Havre.
With air traffic controllers also backing the general strike, the French Civil Aviation Authority has requested that airlines reduce their flight programmes by 25% at Paris’s Roissy-CDG and Orly airports today.
However, Air France says it expects to operate all its long-haul flights and 90% of mid- and short-haul services at Paris-CDG and 50% at Orly.
Postal utility La Poste estimated that just over 22% of its staff were on strike this morning.
State rail operator SNCF’s main staff unions began industrial action at 8pm last night which is scheduled to last until 8am tomorrow (8 September).
Its freight division, Fret SNCF, has warned customers it expects “serious disruption” to services.
The protest at SNCF also encompasses other issues, including the reform of Fret SNCF – in particular, radical cutbacks in the single-wagon network that have not only been condemned by the unions but also by French shippers, environmental protection associations and left-wing politicians.
French port and dock workers’ federation the FNPD-CGT is also supporting the day of action and container traffic is at a standstill at Marseille-Fos port. IFW understands it is a similar picture at Le Havre.
With air traffic controllers also backing the general strike, the French Civil Aviation Authority has requested that airlines reduce their flight programmes by 25% at Paris’s Roissy-CDG and Orly airports today.
However, Air France says it expects to operate all its long-haul flights and 90% of mid- and short-haul services at Paris-CDG and 50% at Orly.
Postal utility La Poste estimated that just over 22% of its staff were on strike this morning.
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