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Paris waste collectors and rail unions call for strikes in push for bigger Olympic bonuses

Unions representing Paris waste collectors have threatened to strike for the entire Olympics period, while rail unions have called a one-day strike in May - both are calling for bonuses for their workers during the Games period.

Published: 2 May 2024 10:45 CEST
Paris waste collectors and rail unions call for strikes in push for bigger Olympic bonuses
Uncollected rubbish during a waste collectors' strike in Paris in March 2023. Photo: AFP

The one-day rail strike is set to take place on Tuesday, May 21st, and it will affect certain types of public transport in the Paris region.

The industrial action could cause delays or cancellations on the RER regional train services, as well as Transiliens and the tram line 4 – all of which are operated by SNCF (national rail service) employees – according to French radio channel RMC. City transport including the Paris Metro system and buses – which are operated by RATP – are not expected to be affected. 

Meanwhile the CGT union representing some Paris waste collectors has filed two strike notices – one for mid-May and one for the entire period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (July, August and early September).

The union is calling for €1,900 bonuses for each employee during the Games period, as well as overall pay rises.

The CGT does not represent all of the capital’s waste collectors, nonetheless a strike during the Games period could lead to unsightly piles of uncollected rubbish around the city.

Meanwhile the rail unions are seeking a larger bonus than the €50 per day currently on offer.

The strike is timed just one day before scheduled discussions between SNCF management and unions.

READ MORE: ANALYSIS: Will strikes disrupt the Paris Olympics?

Negotiations have already taken place between several sectors including public transport operators RATP and the Paris police, in which staff have secured bonuses during the Games in exchange for a promise not to strike. 

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STRIKES

Olympic pay strike to ‘severely disrupt’ Paris public transport on Tuesday

A Tuesday rail strike over bonuses for Paris' July-August Olympic Games period will leave just one in five suburban commuter trains running on some lines in the French capital, operator SNCF have warned.

Published: 20 May 2024 09:57 CEST
Olympic pay strike to 'severely disrupt' Paris public transport on Tuesday

Traffic will be “very severely disrupted”, SNCF said, with certain lines suspended outside peak hours.

The operator’s Transilien Paris regional network has urged people to work from home or find alternate transport on Tuesday, which follows a Monday public holiday.

Rail workers’ unions are pressuring SNCF in negotiations over bonuses for working through the Olympic period.

Their counterparts at transport operator RATP, which runs metro and bus services in Paris, have already secured an average 1,000-euro ($1,086) bonus, reaching up to 2,500 euros for the most in-demand train and bus drivers.

“We thought the talks were dragging on a bit and wanted to provoke something,” Fabien Villedieu of the SUD-Rail union told AFP on Friday.

“We have a heavy workload with 4,500 additional trains in August, so a whole range of our colleagues won’t be able to go on holiday,” he added.

Strikes and threats of industrial action during the Games have marked the months leading up to the event, including from rubbish collectors and government and medical workers.

Rubbish collectors this month won a pay rise on top of an Olympic bonus, heading off multiple days of walkouts flagged for later in May and over the period of the Games.

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