French rail workers threaten Christmas strike
Members of the French rail union SudRail have threatened to disrupt Christmas and New Year travel with strike action in a dispute about pay.
France's biggest rail unions will meet next week as one union pushes for a "strong strike action" over the end of the year.
French media reported that the SudRail union had emailed the three other biggest unions representing rail workers - CGT Cheminots, Unsa Ferroviaire and CFDT Cheminots - calling for a joint strike action at "the end of the year".
It is understood the four unions will meet next week to discuss their options.
The strike call comes as SNCF undertakes its annual pay negotiations with unions, which this year comes in the context of a rise in the cost of living, and unions across the board pushing for pay increases.
No concrete dates have been put forward for the strike, but it is believed that SudRail is suggesting the busy Christmas and New Year period. This is traditionally one of the busiest periods on the railways in France as hundreds of thousands of people make their festive getaway by train - many of France's TGV trains are already fully booked over the Christmas period.
Last year, thousands of festive travellers saw severe disruption due to a signallers strike and in 2019 Christmas travel was extremely limited due to mass transport strikes over pension reform.
You can keep up to date with all the latest strike news in our strike section - HERE.
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France's biggest rail unions will meet next week as one union pushes for a "strong strike action" over the end of the year.
French media reported that the SudRail union had emailed the three other biggest unions representing rail workers - CGT Cheminots, Unsa Ferroviaire and CFDT Cheminots - calling for a joint strike action at "the end of the year".
It is understood the four unions will meet next week to discuss their options.
The strike call comes as SNCF undertakes its annual pay negotiations with unions, which this year comes in the context of a rise in the cost of living, and unions across the board pushing for pay increases.
No concrete dates have been put forward for the strike, but it is believed that SudRail is suggesting the busy Christmas and New Year period. This is traditionally one of the busiest periods on the railways in France as hundreds of thousands of people make their festive getaway by train - many of France's TGV trains are already fully booked over the Christmas period.
Last year, thousands of festive travellers saw severe disruption due to a signallers strike and in 2019 Christmas travel was extremely limited due to mass transport strikes over pension reform.
You can keep up to date with all the latest strike news in our strike section - HERE.
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