The ongoing dispute between the French government and unions over proposed reforms to the pension system – including raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 – have so far taken the form of a series of one-day strikes.

The next of these is scheduled for Tuesday, March 7th, but a growing number of unions are calling for a grève reconductible – renewable or rolling strike – that will begin on March 7th but continue indefinitely.

On Monday unions representing SNCF rail workers became the latest to call for a renewable strike, following workers on the Paris RATP public transport network and waste collectors.

Workers in the country’s chemical industry – including oil refinery workers – are also set to begin renewable strike action from March 6th. Their action is likely to including blockading oil refineries in order to prevent deliveries of petrol and diesel getting through to filling stations.

The rail strikes will have an impact on all French national trains – including TGV, Intercité and local TER routes – and may also affect international routes like the Eurostar.

SNCF will publish a detailed strike timetable on Monday, March 6th. 

For the moment, unions representing other industries including teachers are sticking to the on-day strike, but further announcements could be made this week.

Keep up with all the latest in our French pension strike calendar