France calls for rapid end to one of the longest rail strikes
Print Edition
THE French government called yesterday for a rapid end to one of the longest railway strikes in years but labor unions vowed to prolong industrial action that risks disrupting end-of-school exams for hundreds of thousands of students.
A separate strike by baggage handlers at Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris looked set to compound disruption tomorrow, with Air France predicting delays but no cuts in flights on a day when 150,000 people travel via France’s main air hub.
Workers at the SNCF train operator voted to continue their three-day stoppage over a rail reform bill due to go to parliament next week, annoying President Francois Hollande.
“This does not mean the dialogue cannot continue but the time has come and this industrial action must come to an end,” Hollande said.
Rail services have been cut or scrapped since the strike began on Tuesday evening over government plans to bring the SNCF rail operator and the RFF network company under the roof of one holding company while keeping their operations separate.
The unions fear the reform will harm work conditions and are calling for a return to a pre-1997 structure where the SNCF was a single entity. They also want the state to take on 40 billion euros (US$54.5 billion) in debt owed by the two firms.
The unions say news last month of a mistaken order of hundreds of new trains that are too wide to enter stations provides proof of the dangers of deregulation.
School Exams
Prime Minister Manuel Valls defended the reform, which the government says is needed to create a coherent structure for the railways as France and other European countries gear up for full-scale liberalization of the railways in coming years.
Valls said he was “calmly but firmly” urging unions to call off their protest.
But the hardline CGT and Sud unions stood firm, despite news that other less militant unions were backing out after talks with Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier.
The government’s education department was working on ways to accommodate school children arriving late for the high-pressure “Baccalaureat” exams that mark the exit from secondary school, said Cuvillier. The exams start next week.
Striking a defiant note over the unions, he told France Info state radio: “In France it’s parliament that makes legislation.”
The SNCF rail operator said Eurostar links with Britain and Thalys links with Belgium and further north were expected to run normally, but other international links with Italy and Spain were still cut, along with internal high-speed TGV train services, down as much as 50 percent yesterday.
Unions said yesterday that the strike, renewable every 24 hours, would continue into the weekend. While the level of service disruption remains high, the SNCF said the number of strikers had fallen to about 17 percent yesterday from over 25 percent earlier in the week.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
