Strike halts high-speed trains in France
Commuters scrambling to make alternative plans
PARIS — A major French railway strike brought the country’s famed high-speed trains to a halt Tuesday, leaving passengers stranded or scrambling for other options — and posing the biggest test so far of President Emmanuel Macron’s economic strategy.
The SNCF national rail authority said only about 12 percent of trains were running during the first of a series of weekly two-day strikes that labor unions have called for the next three months.
Rail service is expected to remain “very disturbed” Wednesday, with 86 percent of trains canceled nationwide, according to forecasts from state-owned SNCF.
International traffic also will be reduced for a second day from Paris to London and between France and Germany, SNCF predicted. No trains are expected to be operating between France and Italy, Spain and Switzerland, the rail authority said.
The strike’s impact immediately was visible on Tuesday. Passengers hitched rides on traffic-clogged roads and shared travel tips online.
Commuters expressed anger at the overall situation, but they were not necessarily taking sides.
“Really this is catastrophic. Something needs to be done. We are the victims. We haven’t done anything. We need to get to work like everyone else,” Aziza Fleris, 56, said.
Labor unions say Macron is threatening hard-fought French rights that workers in other countries envy, as well as damaging the whole idea of public service.
Rail workers are protesting plans to eliminate a special status that they’ve enjoyed for decades.
The “cheminot” status effectively guarantees jobs for life and other benefits, in keeping with the image of France’s railways as an essential pillar of the country’s infrastructure and its public services.
The government wants to maintain the status for existing workers but abolish it for new workers.
Macron’s government says the guarantee is no longer tenable in a globalized and increasingly automated economy that requires more flexible workforces.