Strike-hit Air France expects 75 percent of flights to operate, as rail stoppage looms

 

Passengers wait at the Air France check in at Nice airport as Air France pilots, cabin and ground crews unions call for a one-day strike over salaries in France, March 30, 2018. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

 

 

 

PARIS (Reuters) - Air France said it expected to operate around 75 percent of its flights on Tuesday, the first day of a strike that will coincide with a larger stoppage on the rail network, paralysing much of France's transport network.

 

The flag carrier's unions have called for action on Tuesday and on April 7 and plan further walkouts on April 10 and 11, over demands for a 6 percent wage increase that management has rejected.

 

Meanwhile French commuters are bracing for chaos from Monday evening as a series of rolling nationwide rail strikes get under way that nearly half of unionised staff have indicated they will join.

 

The rail strike, due to run for three months in successive waves of two days, is expected to be the biggest test yet of President Emmanuel Macron's ability to push through wide-ranging labour and economic reforms.

 

SNCF said it expected only one in eight of its high-speed trains expected to run on Tuesday.

 

The Air France strike, organised separately, is expected to ground 30 percent of the carrier's long-haul flights out of Paris's main Charles de Gaulle airport, it said.

 

About 67 percent of its medium-haul flights would operate and 85 percent of short-haul ones.

 

Air France said more than 32 percent of its pilots, 20 percent of cabin crew and 15 percent of ground staff were expected to join the strike.

(Reporting by Bate Felix; editing by John Stonestreet)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-05

A transportation strike in France?! How surprising......

Sorry for those who depend on the train system. Those who fly can find alternatives but a huge pain in the backside if you are already holding tickets! Hopefully a deal which benefits both parties can be found soon.

Edited April 5, 20188 yr by kamahele

Strikes in critical Industries receiving govt support should be ILEGAL!

8 hours ago, webfact said:

The rail strike, due to run for three months in successive waves of two days, is expected to be the biggest test yet of President Emmanuel Macron's ability to push through wide-ranging labour and economic reforms.

If I were an employee at SNCF (French rail) I would probably also fight hard to maintain:

• employment guarantee, basically no firing possible
• 50 holidays per year
• pension for train drivers from the age of 52
• pension for chair warmers from the age of 57

Ronald or Maggie could break that, but Emmanuel ?

Edited April 5, 20188 yr by KhunBENQ

3 hours ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Strikes in critical Industries receiving govt support should be ILEGAL!

So how do you suggest that employees protect their terms and conditions from pernicious, management-imposed cuts? 

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

If I were an employee at SNCF (French rail) I would probably also fight hard to maintain:

• employment guarantee, basically no firing possible
• 50 holidays per year
• pension for train drivers from the age of 52
• pension for chair warmers from the age of 57

Ronald or Maggie could break that, but Emmanuel ?

With the exception of bullet-proof positions, what is so unpalatable about the other conditions? That they are not the norm in other countries does not validate their unreasonableness. 

1 minute ago, RuamRudy said:

That they are not the norm in other countries does not validate their unreasonableness.

If it was a competitive/profitable company maybe no one would complain.

 

6 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

If it was a competitive/profitable company maybe no one would complain.

 

I am sure they would - we working classes the world over seem to be conditioned to squabble amongst ourselves, complaining about the shininess of the baubles our equals are receiving elsewhere, while nothing ever seems to be done about excessive management salaries, bonuses, share options and the seemingly unending willingness for the markets to accept corporate largesse at the top. If the company is failing, get rid of those at the top, don't reward them for their failure to manage.

So happy to hear because of the bloody mindedness of the French workers only 25% of people will not be able to fly.
God help us Britain slavishly did everything the EU told it while the French just say F off

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No deliberate thread drift.

French employment laws make some companies look elsewhere.

IE: Just ask French parent company PSA of Vauxhall/Opel going to Luton.

Employment law/regs, TACO’s etc inevitably require overhaul or improvements at some point, backlash is all part of the process of not carried out pragmatically.


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So how do you suggest that employees protect their terms and conditions from pernicious, management-imposed cuts? 

If they don’t like the job they shouldn’t take it or if they don’t like “pernicious cuts” they should take a job that offered that suits them better. 

A free market always best always more efficient. Such strikes in critical industries hurt the whole economy the workers never benefit much anyway from causing inconveniences to others.

 

And In a 30 year career I have worked on both sides union/management unions are no longer very relevant if you ask me.

 

I don’t know anything about transportation by the way but in the US railroads and airlines have federally mandated mediation processes that make strikes rare. I don’t think there has been a major airline strike since the 1990s. (NWA)

 

US Airline pilots are the highest paid in the world.