Holiday train travel is at a near standstill in France as nationwide public sector strikes enter their third week. From the Paris metro to high-speed long-distance trains, rail services will mostly not be running.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Mori
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On Tuesday, France's national rail carrier, SNCF, announced that domestic and cross-border routes would run with extremely reduced service over the Christmas holiday period as strikes by public sector workers enter their third week. French President Emmanuel Macron had asked workers for a holiday pause to their strikes against his proposed changes to their pension system and increased retirement age.
"Due to a nationwide strike affecting multiple industries, SNCF traffic is likely to be severely disrupted across the entire network," an announcement on the carrier's website reads. "We urge all passengers to postpone their journey." The announcement was last updated December 5, but the information remains current.
Over the weekend, SNCF carried more than 800,000 passengers to destinations across France and over the borders. On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, only 40% of the scheduled high-speed TGV services and 20% of local trains were running. Two out of every three headed to Germany were canceled.
France on strike — in pictures
French public sector workers are striking over controversial pension reforms proposed by President Emmanuel Macron. Schools closed, transport is disrupted and emergency rooms are operating with minimum staff.
Image: Reuters/G. Fuentes
Walkout causes gridlock
Many workers hoped to return to work on Friday. Some commuters opted to hire bicycles and scooters and others took their cars. This led to large traffic jams in French cities. There were nearly 300 kilometers of traffic jams in the Paris region.
Image: Reuters/C. Platiau
Transportation grinds to a halt
90% of high-speed trains and 70% of regional trains were cancelled on Friday, the French railway announced. The French civil aviation authority instructed airlines to reduce their Friday flight traffic from central airports to 20%.
Image: Reuters/C. Platiau
A fairer system?
Public sector workers are unhappy about a reform that would see France transition to a points-based pension system from its current system that has 42 sector-specific pension schemes. Currently, rail workers, mariners and some ballet dancers can retire up to 10 years earlier than other workers. President Macron said that the proposed system would be fairer for everyone.
Image: imago images/IP3press/G. Jeremias
Pensions debate without movement
Macron's proposals follow a long tradition of French government pension reform proposals stretching for three decades. Each reform has been met with massive demonstrations and none of the changes has succeeded in simplifying the pension system.
Image: Reuters/B. Tessier
United behind a low retirement age
Years of protests against pension reforms have successfully kept the retirement age low. In France, the pension age was raised to 62 years. This is among the lowest in OECD countries, despite being raised from 60 years in 2010 reforms. In Germany, retirement is at 67 years old.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. Mahoudeau
Stronger together?
French union leaders are the driving force behind the nationwide strike — but they are not united. The CGT union is the most hardline. It rejects any pension reform proposals and said workers had blocked seven out of eight of the countries oil refineries. The CFDT union is more moderate and is open to the idea of a points-based system.
Image: picture-alliance/Zuma/J. Colburn
Protests sparked
While the majority of protesting consisted of peaceful marches, masked protesters also vandalized bus stops, smashed shop windows, and threw fireworks at police as demonstrators progressed through Paris on Thursday.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Mattia
Seeing red at pension proposals
The so-called Yellow Vests are known for their direct approach to protesting and have said they would join the strikes. Authorities are bracing themselves for possible violence. The yellow-vest movement has swelled into anti-government and anti-inequality protests. Many see the general strike in France as protecting the country's social safety net — not just about preserving pensions.
Image: Reuters/J.-P. Pelissier
Riot police move in
After peaceful protesting escalated to include rioting and damage to public and private property, security forces also intensified their tactics. Riot police charged crowds and fired tear gas to disperse violent demonstrators.
Image: Reuters/Herault Infos
Police and protesters clash in Paris
Police clashed with protesters on Thursday in Nantes, Montpellier, Paris as well as other cities. Masked demonstrators started fires, smashed storefronts, and vandalized cars.
Image: Reuters/G. Fuentes
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Broad public support
The changes to the retirement system for public sector workers was a central pledge of Macron's. The president has argued for a unified pension system to replace the 42 separate public sector systems currently in place. Macron said the system had become too complicated, proposing various cuts and an increase of the retirement age from 62 years old to 64. The SNCF reports losses of about €400 million ($440 million) in revenue during the strike period so far.
Fifty-one percent of French people support the strikes, according to a poll by Ifop released Sunday; just 34% are opposed. Negotiations fell apart earlier in December, and, despite the government's appeals for a holiday hold, Laurent Brun, the general secretary of the CGT rail workers' union told the communist newspaper L'Humanite that he saw "no reason" for a pause. On Monday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said negotiations would resume on January 7.
Various other factors could affect travel during the holiday period. The Ajaccio airport on the Mediterranean island of Corsica is flooded, shifting flights to Bastia in the north.
Petrol stations report that fuel supplies remain adequate despite strikes by refinery workers. Only two metro lines — the automated ones — are currently running in Paris, and regional trains around the capital are not.
Separately, the Autonomous Union for Interns of the Hospitals of Marseille has also called a strike. Hospitals remain open because they are by law required to maintain a minimum level of service, but without a robust staff of doctors-in-training, the senior doctors who continue to work report being overwhelmed and exhausted.
