Services disrupted as French unions protest over reforms
PARIS: Trains, planes, schools and other public services across France were seriously disrupted yesterday as unions set up dozens of street protests across the country.
In the western city of Nantes, brief scuffles broke out between some protesters and riot police.
Airport authorities said 30% of flights to and from Paris were cancelled. National train company SNCF said only 40% of high-speed trains and half of regional trains were running.
Some schools and kindergartens were also closed. Strikers were answering the call of seven French unions to reject President Emmanuel Macron’s economic measures.
Union leaders said the strikes were a warning to the government.
“We agree that we need to make changes to public services, but not to restrain them. To improve them. We need more public servants,” Philippe Martinez, secretary-general of the CGT union, told FranceInfo radio.
Public servants want better wages and are protesting against the planned loss of 120 000 jobs by 2022, while employees of SNCF reject a government plan aimed at adapting the company before opening of the service to competition.
“If we are not heard… there will be calls for strikes and in that case, very few trains would run,” said Julien Cabanne, a union official who came to Paris to protest.
SNCF unions have already scheduled a series of strikes for next month, May and June.
The main protest in Paris was scheduled to start in the afternoon. The Paris Metro was running normally, but suburban trains were affected by the strike.
Nirman Djeacoumaran, from a Paris suburb, said there was just one train per hour on his train line.
At Paris Orly airport, passenger Noemie Danican had just learnt her EasyJet flight to Toulouse, in southern France, had been cancelled.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen. This is going to be very difficult. Very very difficult.” – AP/ African News Agency (ANA)