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French rail staff stage 'Black Tuesday' protests against overhaul French rail staff stage 'Black Tuesday' protests against overhaul
(about 4 hours later)
French rail workers have launched three months of rolling train strikes in what threatens to become the largest and most chaotic industrial action against Emmanuel Macron’s drive to overhaul state transport and liberalise the economy. French rail workers have launched three months of rolling train strikes, prompting street demonstrations and transport chaos, in the first major test for Emmanuel Macron’s pro-business resolve to liberalise the economy and loosen labour rules in the state sector.
Called “Black Tuesday” in the media, the opening day of train strikes was expected to cause disruption for France’s 4.5 million rail passengers around 33% of all train staff and more than 75% of drivers walked out. The first day of the strikes – dubbed “Black Tuesday” – caused large-scale disruption to the country’s 4.5 million rail passengers. Frantic crowds on Paris platforms queued to squeeze themselves on to scarce trains with some passengers falling on to tracks, while railway workers and students marched through major cities.
Only one regional train in five and one high-speed TGV train out of eight was running. Commuter lines into Paris were severely affected, and international train services were cut, with no trains between France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain and three out of four trains running on the Eurostar service connecting to London. Over three-quarters of train drivers and almost half of essential rail staff walked off the job across the country. Only one regional train in five and one high-speed TGV train out of eight was running. Commuter lines into Paris were severely affected and international train services were cut, with no trains between France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain and three out of four trains running on the Eurostar service connecting to London.
Stoppages are planned across the country’s rail network for two days out of every five until 28 June. Unions are protesting against the centrist French president’s plan to push through sweeping changes to the vast state rail system. The strikes against Macron’s plan to push through sweeping changes to France’s vast state rail system mark the biggest industrial action against the president since he took office last year.
The rail sector is traditionally one of France’s riskiest political issues; a battleground on which Macron is refusing to budge in order to prove that he can face down strikes and continue with a liberalising overhaul of other sectors. At rush hour crowds of commuters at the Gare de Lyon tried to shove their way on to packed trains heading to the banlieues south east of Paris.
The government argues that France’s heavily in debt state railway company, the SNCF, has to be made more efficient before local and national passenger services open up to competition in coming years under EU rules. “I’m neither for or against this strike. I’ll put up with it because rail workers are fighting for exactly what I’m fighting for every day: a pay cheque to be able to put food on the table,” said one 50-year-old school support worker who had woken at 4am to commute from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. She said she saw Macron as the “president of the rich” whose manifesto benefited the higher echelons of society, while the rail workers defended the interest of everyday people.
The government intends to cut rail workers’ special employment rights, so that new hires would not have jobs for life or special retirement provisions. But there are also plans to change the SNCF structure, turning it into a publicly listed company. A 64-year-old administrator who had been commuting daily into Paris from the southern banlieue for 24 years said: “I’m sickened by this strike. If I can’t turn up for work I don’t get paid. Reforms have to happen and at last Macron is the first leader to really try to change things.”
Unions and politicians on the left fear that even if the state owned 100% of shares, transforming the rail operator into a publicly listed company could lead to privatisation. The government denies this is its goal. The rail sector is traditionally one of France’s riskiest political issues. The centrist Macron never pushed rail reform as a major part of his election platform of pro-business economic change, but his proposals to cut rail workers’ special employment rights and turn the state-run railway, SNCF, into a publicly listed company have become a byword for the government’s vow to cut state debt and overhaul labour policies.
“We’re defending the French public service, not just rail workers,” said Emmanuel Grondein, the head of Sud Rail, one of the four unions behind the industrial action. The Socialist politician Julien Dray warned of a veiled plan for “rampant privatisation”. Polls show that over half the French public is currently against the strikes and the government is hoping to keep public opinion on its side. If the strikers are seen to be defending a common interest or the future of the French public sector, the challenge could become harder for the government, which until now has easily seen off other strike action and last autumn quickly passed into law a major rewriting of the labour code.
The standoff has become a public relations battle that has hit at the heart of Macron’s programme. “We need to rid this country of its strike culture,” Gabriel Attal, a spokesman for Macron’s party, La République En Marche, said on Monday. Macron’s ability to push through his other planned changes – such as complex French pension reform – is at stake. His La République En Marche! party is framing the dispute not only as an indicator of Macron’s ability to stand firm but as a battle for the country’s soul and approach to economic change.
Unions have bristled at suggestions by the government and Macron that rail workers enjoy unfair privileges with job-for-life guarantees, automatic annual pay rises and a generous early retirement policy. His prime minister, Édouard Philippe, had suggested that French people were not happy with the rail system, while rail workers argue they are protecting a state service. “We need to rid this country of its strike culture,” Gabriel Attal, a party spokesman, said just before the strikes began.
The government insist it is open to dialogue with unions. Ministers hope that such a long and disruptive strike will not be popular among the public. A little more than half of French people view the strikes as unjustified, according to an Ifop poll published on Sunday. The government is focused on trying to keep public opinion onside. The hard left has called Macron a French Margaret Thatcher, accusing him of trying to privatise the rail system by stealth. But this French rail strike is very different to Britain’s yearlong miners’ strikes in 1984.
Commuters expressed a mixture of sympathy and frustration with the reduced service on Tuesday. The government argues that the SNCF, which is heavily in debt, has to be overhauled and made more efficient before local and national passenger services are opened up to competition in coming years under European Union rules.
“I start work at 1:00 pm. Do you know what time I had to get up? 5:00 am,” Jean Nahavua, a manager at a wholesale company who lives in Lille and commutes to Paris, told Agence France-Presse. “Three months like this, it’s going to be complicated.” The government intends to cut rail workers’ special employment rights so that new hires would not have jobs for life or special retirement provisions. But there are also plans to change the SNCF structure, turning it into a publicly listed company.
As commuters took to the roads instead, the streets of Paris were snarled with an “exceptional” 230 miles (370km) of traffic jams during the morning rush hour before easing, according to the traffic website Sytadin. Unions and politicians on the left fear that this transformation – even with the state owning 100% of shares – could eventually lead to the rail operator being privatised.
At the capital’s busy Gare de Lyon station, the platforms were so crammed that a woman fell on to the tracks and had to be helped out by fellow passengers. The government denies that it is paving the way for privatisation. The prime minister, Édouard Philippe, insisted on Tuesday that the government “does not intend to privatise the SNCF” but that “the status quo is no longer tenable”.
But normally busy regional stations including Nice, Lille and Marseille were virtually deserted as travellers anticipated cancellations. Emmanuel Grondein, head of Sud Rail, one of four unions behind the industrial action, said: “We’re defending the French public service, not just rail workers.”
Previous suggestions of overhauling the SNCF have proved controversial, with the train network grinding to a virtual halt for weeks when trade unions opposed changes to rail staff’s benefits in 1995. Those strikes paralysed France and forced the then prime minister, Alain Juppé, to abandon the changes – a defeat that ultimately prompted him to quit. Unions have bristled at government suggestions that rail workers enjoy unfair privileges with job-for-life guarantees, automatic annual pay rises and a generous early retirement policy.
Staff at Air France, who are pushing for salary changes, as well as refuse collectors and some energy workers staged separate strikes on Tuesday. “It’s not true what they’re saying about rail workers having golden life,” said one SNCF worker in southern Paris. “I have staff on my team on tiny salaries working very hard on maintenance down tunnels with rats, clearing litter, ensuring safety. This is a very difficult moment. It’s very tense and I fear it’s going to get worse.”
Any question of overhauling the SNCF has always proved controversial. The train network ground to a halt for weeks when trade unions opposed changes to rail staff’s benefits in 1995. The strikes of that year paralysed France and forced the then-prime minister, Alain Juppé, to abandon the reforms – a defeat that ultimately prompted Juppé to quit.
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