More Rail Strikes announced

The French trade union, the CGT announced yesterday that French train passengers are set to suffer the effects of a new strike, which is set to kick off at 7pm on Monday 9th of March and run to 8am on Wednesday the 11th.

Workers will protest against the same reform package that prompted 12 days of strikes in June last year. While last year’s action was planned by both the CGT and the Sud-Rail unions, next week’s strike is only backed by CGT.

The controversial reforms which were put into place in January, are intended to tackle the rail sector’s soaring debt, which currently stands at more than €40 billion and was feared to almost double by 2025 if no reforms were implemented.

The reforms aim to cut costs by opening up parts of the rail service to competition. The CGT union has argued that this reforms and opening up the network to more competition would lead to job losses without making any difference to the debt.

The strikes in June last year were the longest in years and crippled the transport system. They prompted clashes between riot police and protesters, and lost the state-run SNCF an estimated €80 million.