Flights, trains and doctors: What to expect from strikes in France on Friday
Unions have called for workers across France - and Europe - to walk out on Friday in a mass demand for higher wages to cope with the increasing cost of living. Here's how services in France will be affected.
The intersyndicale - the group that represents all eight of France's union federations - has called a one-day strike on Friday, October 13th, plus a day of nationwide demonstrations.
READ ALSO Will Friday's strike affect Rugby World Cup fans?
They hope that all sectors will heed the call - which is part of a Europe-wide day of action - to demonstrate for higher wages across the board to deal with the rising cost of living, as well as gender equality.
🗓 Le 13 octobre, en France et en Europe, mobilisons-nous contre l’austérité, pour les salaires et l’égalité femmes-hommes !
➡️ Communiqué intersyndical.
À retrouver en version texte ici ⤵️https://t.co/AKrUuZhMJu pic.twitter.com/UkISFC0Ait
— La CGT (@lacgtcommunique) August 28, 2023
"We need action, we need all employees to strike and demonstrate," said Sophie Binet, head of the hardline CGT union.
According to the strike website - 13octobre.fr - there are currently actions planned in 209 towns and cities.
Here's what we know so far;
Flights
Workers in the airline industry are required to give advance notice of their intention to strike, and then the French civil aviation authority orders airlines to cancel a certain percentage of flights.
On Friday 40 percent of flights in and out of Paris Orly will be cancelled, 20 percent in and out of Marseille-Provence airport and 15 percent in and out of Paris Beauvais.
Airlines generally try to protect long-haul flights and cancel short-haul ones, but anyone with a flight booked between the evening of Thursday, October 12th and the morning of Saturday, October 14th should check with their airline.
Trains
SNCF says that the high-speed TGV services will run on a 'quasi-normal' basis on Friday, with some disruptions to be expected.
However, the rail company has warned that there will be disruption on some regional Transilien and TER lines.
TER services in Franche-Comté, Grand-Est, Normandy and Centre-Val-de-Loire will be 'lightly disrupted' according to SNCF, and Hauts-de-France will be 'very light disrupted' while in other regions they should run as normal.
Paris public transport
The Paris public transport network RATP says there will be no disruption to Metro, tram or bus services on Friday.
On the RER regional train network, two in three of the normal services will run on RER C and D, while the rest of the network will run normally.
RER B - which links Paris to its two airports - will run as normal.
The Transilien network will have reduced services on lines H, L, U and R while the rest will run as normal.
In Marseille - which along with Paris is hosting Rugby World Cup quarter final matches this weekend - Metro and tram services will run as normal while the municipal bus services will see some disruption on Friday.
Roads
One of the unions that represents hauliers and truck drivers has indicated its support, so 'opérations escargot' - rolling roadblocks - may be possible on some routes. These are unlikely to be widespread, however.
Schools
Several unions representing teachers have issued strike calls, although the impact of this is likely to vary between regions and even between schools. School canteen staff and those operating after-school activities have also filed strike notices, so some schools may be open but without a canteen or after-school service.
Doctors
Technically this is a different strike, although it also begins on Friday, October 13th. Médecins libéraux - those working in the community such as GPs or family doctors - have called an unlimited strike starting on Friday, in their ongoing battle to increase the standard consultation fees they receive from the government.
This could result in doctors' offices closing for an unlimited period of time. It will not affect hospitals or emergency services.
READ ALSO How to access non-emergency medical care in France
Demos
Unions in towns and cities across France will also be organising protest marches on Friday afternoon, so if you're in a town or city centre expect some road closures and traffic diversions.
The biggest demo is expected to be in Paris - it will depart Place d'Italie at 2pm and finish at PLace Vauban at around 5pm.
You can enter your postcode into the strike website here to find demos in your area.
More to come
More details will be revealed in the days to come about strike services, and other strike notices could be filed before Friday. We will update this article and you can also find the latest strike announcements here.
The French unions are calling for a Europe-wide day of mobilisation, but so far unions in France's neighbours have not announced widespread action, so travel around Europe should be largely unaffected.
Comments
See Also
The intersyndicale - the group that represents all eight of France's union federations - has called a one-day strike on Friday, October 13th, plus a day of nationwide demonstrations.
READ ALSO Will Friday's strike affect Rugby World Cup fans?
They hope that all sectors will heed the call - which is part of a Europe-wide day of action - to demonstrate for higher wages across the board to deal with the rising cost of living, as well as gender equality.
🗓 Le 13 octobre, en France et en Europe, mobilisons-nous contre l’austérité, pour les salaires et l’égalité femmes-hommes !
— La CGT (@lacgtcommunique) August 28, 2023
➡️ Communiqué intersyndical.
À retrouver en version texte ici ⤵️https://t.co/AKrUuZhMJu pic.twitter.com/UkISFC0Ait
"We need action, we need all employees to strike and demonstrate," said Sophie Binet, head of the hardline CGT union.
According to the strike website - 13octobre.fr - there are currently actions planned in 209 towns and cities.
Here's what we know so far;
Flights
Workers in the airline industry are required to give advance notice of their intention to strike, and then the French civil aviation authority orders airlines to cancel a certain percentage of flights.
On Friday 40 percent of flights in and out of Paris Orly will be cancelled, 20 percent in and out of Marseille-Provence airport and 15 percent in and out of Paris Beauvais.
Airlines generally try to protect long-haul flights and cancel short-haul ones, but anyone with a flight booked between the evening of Thursday, October 12th and the morning of Saturday, October 14th should check with their airline.
Trains
SNCF says that the high-speed TGV services will run on a 'quasi-normal' basis on Friday, with some disruptions to be expected.
However, the rail company has warned that there will be disruption on some regional Transilien and TER lines.
TER services in Franche-Comté, Grand-Est, Normandy and Centre-Val-de-Loire will be 'lightly disrupted' according to SNCF, and Hauts-de-France will be 'very light disrupted' while in other regions they should run as normal.
Paris public transport
The Paris public transport network RATP says there will be no disruption to Metro, tram or bus services on Friday.
On the RER regional train network, two in three of the normal services will run on RER C and D, while the rest of the network will run normally.
RER B - which links Paris to its two airports - will run as normal.
The Transilien network will have reduced services on lines H, L, U and R while the rest will run as normal.
In Marseille - which along with Paris is hosting Rugby World Cup quarter final matches this weekend - Metro and tram services will run as normal while the municipal bus services will see some disruption on Friday.
Roads
One of the unions that represents hauliers and truck drivers has indicated its support, so 'opérations escargot' - rolling roadblocks - may be possible on some routes. These are unlikely to be widespread, however.
Schools
Several unions representing teachers have issued strike calls, although the impact of this is likely to vary between regions and even between schools. School canteen staff and those operating after-school activities have also filed strike notices, so some schools may be open but without a canteen or after-school service.
Doctors
Technically this is a different strike, although it also begins on Friday, October 13th. Médecins libéraux - those working in the community such as GPs or family doctors - have called an unlimited strike starting on Friday, in their ongoing battle to increase the standard consultation fees they receive from the government.
This could result in doctors' offices closing for an unlimited period of time. It will not affect hospitals or emergency services.
READ ALSO How to access non-emergency medical care in France
Demos
Unions in towns and cities across France will also be organising protest marches on Friday afternoon, so if you're in a town or city centre expect some road closures and traffic diversions.
The biggest demo is expected to be in Paris - it will depart Place d'Italie at 2pm and finish at PLace Vauban at around 5pm.
You can enter your postcode into the strike website here to find demos in your area.
More to come
More details will be revealed in the days to come about strike services, and other strike notices could be filed before Friday. We will update this article and you can also find the latest strike announcements here.
The French unions are calling for a Europe-wide day of mobilisation, but so far unions in France's neighbours have not announced widespread action, so travel around Europe should be largely unaffected.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.