What to expect from pension protests on Thursday in France
Thursday marks the 12th day of mobilisation against pension reform in France - here is what to expect for travel, demos and overall disruption.
France's eight union federations have called for more strikes and protests on Thursday, ahead of the crucial decision by the country's Constitutional Council on Friday.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why Friday's court ruling could prolong French pensions dispute for another 15 months
Here is what you can expect;
Flights
From Wednesday night until Friday morning (at 6am), 20 percent of flights will be cancelled at the Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes airports, according to France's civil aviation authority.
The civil aviation authority also warned that delays are to be expected, and advised those who can push back their travel plans to do so.
#Perturbations | Mouvement social national interprofessionnel du 13 avril 2023. pic.twitter.com/cZh9m0PBru
— Direction générale de l'aviation civile 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@DGAC) April 11, 2023
Trains
France's national rail service, SNCF, has warned that services will be 'disrupted' on Thursday. On average, about four out of five high-speed TGV trains are expected to run. As for regional trains, three out of five TER trains will operate according to normal schedules, and one in five daytime Intercité trains will run but there will be no Intercité night trains.
You can check the status of your train with SNCF Connect HERE.
International trains should run as normal - Eurostar said it will not need to cancel any trains on Thursday - details HERE.
City public transport
In Paris, public transport will be running as normal on the buses, trams, RER lines 1 and B and the OrlyVal airport shuttle.
On the Metro, most lines will run as normal, with only 'light disruption' - 2 in 3 of the normal services - on lines 8 and 13. Metro lines 4, 11 and 14 will close at 10pm, as part of pre-planned engineering works.
Transilien lines will also experience some disruption. On the N and P lines, three out of four trains will run, and on the H, L and R lines two out of three will run, likewise RER C and D will have slightly fewer services than normal.
Traffic
According to French traffic watch dog, Bison Futé, the whole of France is expected to have "green" (normal) traffic levels on Thursday.
However, during previous days of protest and strikes there have been wildcard actions, such as highway blockages on city ring roads, particularly in the early hours of the morning on strike days. Typically, traffic around major cities has increased on strike days. If you plan to drive in the Paris region on Thursday, you can consult the real-time traffic website Sytadin - link HERE.
Tourist sites
During previous days of action, popular tourist sites, such as the Versailles Palace and Gardens, Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum have closed. Prior to departing, you would be advised to check the website of the tourist site in question to determine whether operating hours are to be affected by strike action.
The Versailles Estate and Palace announced on its website that it expected to be affected by strike action on Thursday, with a message on their website explaining that the opening of the tourist site is likely to be "severely disrupted on Thursday April 13th".
As of Wednesday, the Louvre Museum had not made any mention of plans to close on Thursday, but the Eiffel Tower posted a message to their website saying that "due to a notice of national strike action on April 13th, access to the Eiffel Tower could be disrupted". They advised visitors with e-tickets for April 13 to check their emails for a message.
Fuel shortages and oil refineries
As of Tuesday, fuel shortages were still impacting many filling stations in France, despite strike action at refineries beginning to wind down.
About 9.7 percent of the country's fuel stations were short at least one type of fuel on Tuesday, and 25 of France's 96 mainland départements had at least 10 percent of their stations experiencing some level of shortage.
In recent days, the Paris region has been most impacted when compared with other parts of France. In the city of Paris, 44.9 percent of filling stations were missing at least one type of fuel, and in Val-de-Marne, just outside Paris, that figure rose to 61.4 percent, with 8.4 percent of stations running completely dry.
The centre-west of the country was also affected, namely the Indre-et-Loire département where 41.8 percent of stations were experiencing some level of shortage.
READ MORE: MAP: Where in France are blockades causing fuel shortages?
Oil refinery workers plan to strike again on Thursday, namely at the Donges refinery in Loire-Atlantique. The workers at this refinery had suspended their strike last week, but they are set to resume strike action on Thursday and to continue walkouts at least until Friday.
However, workers at other refineries have voted to suspend strike action, particularly at the TotalEnergies refinery in the Seine-Maritime département (Gonfreville-l'Orcher).
Overall, the fuel situation in France is expected to improve in the coming days. Olivier Gantois, the head of the oil and gas union, Ufip, told France Bleu that "We started the week badly, but I think that the situation will improve significantly [in the coming days]".
Schools
Unions representing teachers have called for walkouts on both Thursday and Friday.
Faire reconnaître le déni démocratique : En grève et dans la rue le 13 !
Dernier jour pour celles et ceux qui envoient leur intention de grève !https://t.co/sFtno2RvxS
— FSU-SNUipp (@FSU_SNUipp) April 10, 2023
Parents of children in primary schools in France should be informed as to whether or not their child's teacher will be on strike 48 hours ahead of the strike action - the same requirement is not in place for secondary schools, however.
Mobilisation by teachers has decreased in recent weeks. According to France's ministry of education, about eight percent of teachers were on strike during the day of action on April 6th - this time it will likely be lower because schools in Zone A are on holiday.
Waste collection
The vast majority of the waste left on the streets of the capital had been cleaned up as of Wednesday, just ahead of a new rolling strike by Paris waste workers set to start on Thursday.
As the new rolling strike will begin on April 13th, it is likely that it will take a few days for the impacts to be felt, depending on the level of strike participation by waste workers.
Wildcards
On Wednesday, the ring road around Nantes in western France was blocked in a wildcard action.
Opération #VilleMorte à #Nantes, ce mercredi matin, en opposition à la #ReformeDesRetaites.
Ici, la Belle Étoile (route de Paris). La circulation est bloquée. pic.twitter.com/2zt0hgVbpk
— ⚔️ (@MarionLpz) April 12, 2023
Previous strike days have seen a rising number of surprise or unannounced actions, including blockades at airports and rolling roadblocks on the roads.
During the most recent day of action, roadblocks were seen outside of Toulouse, Brest, Caen and Rennes.
Demos
Demonstrations are expected across France - in both rural and urban areas - on Thursday. In Paris, the march will begin at 2pm at Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondisement and it will move toward the Place de la Bastille.
Participation in the protest on the April 6th was lower than during previous demonstrations - about 57,000 people took to the streets in Paris and 570,000 did so throughout France, according to the ministry of the interior.
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France's eight union federations have called for more strikes and protests on Thursday, ahead of the crucial decision by the country's Constitutional Council on Friday.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why Friday's court ruling could prolong French pensions dispute for another 15 months
Here is what you can expect;
Flights
From Wednesday night until Friday morning (at 6am), 20 percent of flights will be cancelled at the Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nantes airports, according to France's civil aviation authority.
The civil aviation authority also warned that delays are to be expected, and advised those who can push back their travel plans to do so.
#Perturbations | Mouvement social national interprofessionnel du 13 avril 2023. pic.twitter.com/cZh9m0PBru
— Direction générale de l'aviation civile 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@DGAC) April 11, 2023
Trains
France's national rail service, SNCF, has warned that services will be 'disrupted' on Thursday. On average, about four out of five high-speed TGV trains are expected to run. As for regional trains, three out of five TER trains will operate according to normal schedules, and one in five daytime Intercité trains will run but there will be no Intercité night trains.
You can check the status of your train with SNCF Connect HERE.
International trains should run as normal - Eurostar said it will not need to cancel any trains on Thursday - details HERE.
City public transport
In Paris, public transport will be running as normal on the buses, trams, RER lines 1 and B and the OrlyVal airport shuttle.
On the Metro, most lines will run as normal, with only 'light disruption' - 2 in 3 of the normal services - on lines 8 and 13. Metro lines 4, 11 and 14 will close at 10pm, as part of pre-planned engineering works.
Transilien lines will also experience some disruption. On the N and P lines, three out of four trains will run, and on the H, L and R lines two out of three will run, likewise RER C and D will have slightly fewer services than normal.
Traffic
According to French traffic watch dog, Bison Futé, the whole of France is expected to have "green" (normal) traffic levels on Thursday.
However, during previous days of protest and strikes there have been wildcard actions, such as highway blockages on city ring roads, particularly in the early hours of the morning on strike days. Typically, traffic around major cities has increased on strike days. If you plan to drive in the Paris region on Thursday, you can consult the real-time traffic website Sytadin - link HERE.
Tourist sites
During previous days of action, popular tourist sites, such as the Versailles Palace and Gardens, Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum have closed. Prior to departing, you would be advised to check the website of the tourist site in question to determine whether operating hours are to be affected by strike action.
The Versailles Estate and Palace announced on its website that it expected to be affected by strike action on Thursday, with a message on their website explaining that the opening of the tourist site is likely to be "severely disrupted on Thursday April 13th".
As of Wednesday, the Louvre Museum had not made any mention of plans to close on Thursday, but the Eiffel Tower posted a message to their website saying that "due to a notice of national strike action on April 13th, access to the Eiffel Tower could be disrupted". They advised visitors with e-tickets for April 13 to check their emails for a message.
Fuel shortages and oil refineries
As of Tuesday, fuel shortages were still impacting many filling stations in France, despite strike action at refineries beginning to wind down.
About 9.7 percent of the country's fuel stations were short at least one type of fuel on Tuesday, and 25 of France's 96 mainland départements had at least 10 percent of their stations experiencing some level of shortage.
In recent days, the Paris region has been most impacted when compared with other parts of France. In the city of Paris, 44.9 percent of filling stations were missing at least one type of fuel, and in Val-de-Marne, just outside Paris, that figure rose to 61.4 percent, with 8.4 percent of stations running completely dry.
The centre-west of the country was also affected, namely the Indre-et-Loire département where 41.8 percent of stations were experiencing some level of shortage.
READ MORE: MAP: Where in France are blockades causing fuel shortages?
Oil refinery workers plan to strike again on Thursday, namely at the Donges refinery in Loire-Atlantique. The workers at this refinery had suspended their strike last week, but they are set to resume strike action on Thursday and to continue walkouts at least until Friday.
However, workers at other refineries have voted to suspend strike action, particularly at the TotalEnergies refinery in the Seine-Maritime département (Gonfreville-l'Orcher).
Overall, the fuel situation in France is expected to improve in the coming days. Olivier Gantois, the head of the oil and gas union, Ufip, told France Bleu that "We started the week badly, but I think that the situation will improve significantly [in the coming days]".
Schools
Unions representing teachers have called for walkouts on both Thursday and Friday.
Faire reconnaître le déni démocratique : En grève et dans la rue le 13 !
— FSU-SNUipp (@FSU_SNUipp) April 10, 2023
Dernier jour pour celles et ceux qui envoient leur intention de grève !https://t.co/sFtno2RvxS
Parents of children in primary schools in France should be informed as to whether or not their child's teacher will be on strike 48 hours ahead of the strike action - the same requirement is not in place for secondary schools, however.
Mobilisation by teachers has decreased in recent weeks. According to France's ministry of education, about eight percent of teachers were on strike during the day of action on April 6th - this time it will likely be lower because schools in Zone A are on holiday.
Waste collection
The vast majority of the waste left on the streets of the capital had been cleaned up as of Wednesday, just ahead of a new rolling strike by Paris waste workers set to start on Thursday.
As the new rolling strike will begin on April 13th, it is likely that it will take a few days for the impacts to be felt, depending on the level of strike participation by waste workers.
Wildcards
On Wednesday, the ring road around Nantes in western France was blocked in a wildcard action.
Opération #VilleMorte à #Nantes, ce mercredi matin, en opposition à la #ReformeDesRetaites.
— ⚔️ (@MarionLpz) April 12, 2023
Ici, la Belle Étoile (route de Paris). La circulation est bloquée. pic.twitter.com/2zt0hgVbpk
Previous strike days have seen a rising number of surprise or unannounced actions, including blockades at airports and rolling roadblocks on the roads.
During the most recent day of action, roadblocks were seen outside of Toulouse, Brest, Caen and Rennes.
Demos
Demonstrations are expected across France - in both rural and urban areas - on Thursday. In Paris, the march will begin at 2pm at Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondisement and it will move toward the Place de la Bastille.
Participation in the protest on the April 6th was lower than during previous demonstrations - about 57,000 people took to the streets in Paris and 570,000 did so throughout France, according to the ministry of the interior.
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