The French Way Blog

Striking has been a national pastime for the French. If ever anyone is unhappy with anything then the first action is to strike. Other European countries look on in amusement as the French regularly leave their desks to walk the streets with placards.

I recall a number of years ago when Air France was on the brink of bankruptcy, and a new Chief Executive was given the job of turning around the fortunes of the national carrier. His proposal included plans to restructure the aircraft service sector, involving the redundancy of staff. These plans were critical to the future of the airline.

Immediately a strike was called. The airline stopped flying. The workers marched in the streets. The President apologized for having upset them with these plans. The President cancelled the restructuring plans, and the Chief Executive left the job! This is usually how it works!

This week in France, everyone is marching and striking as the government proposes to pass legislation raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 years old. Most European countries have a retirement age of between 65 and 67 years old.

A recent poll says that over 70% of the public are in favour of these strikes. President Sarkozy said yesterday: “It is perfectly normal and natural that [the pensions reform] has caused worry and opposition.  “This reform is essential and France has committed to putting it into place.”

So today road, rail and air travel is to be severely disrupted.

On the roads there are picketers blocking motorways and access to airports. Over 4000 petrol stations (30% of the national total) are empty of fuel, and the remainder of service stations are limiting fuel available for purchase. Prime Minister François Fillon held a crisis meeting yesterday afternoon in which he pledged to get petrol stations topped up again within “four to five days”.

A large number of schools and universities are also blocked by students who are also feeling aggrieved by the government plans, even though this legislation won’t affect them for 50 years! There was even a school burnt down in Le Mans, which barely got a mention in the French media! 

Air travel is in chaos, and anyone presently in France should check with your airline first, as cancellations and delays are likely throughout France.

Half of flights via Paris Orly are cancelled and 30 per cent at Charles de Gaulle.

Air France says it will run all its scheduled long-haul flights, but has warned of last-minute delays and cancellations on shorter routes.

On the train tracks the situation is no different. Unions say more than a third of train staff will be striking today. The SNCF has reminded passengers that tickets will be accepted on any valid route and anyone wishing to cancel can do so without a penalty.

TGVs: 60 per cent of services into and out of Paris are running, but only a quarter of province-province routes bypassing the capital.

Eurostar: Running a normal service. Thalys is also running after yesterday’s Belgian rail strike, with nine out of 10 trains operating as normal.

In Paris: Near-normal service on metro, bus and trams. RER A running two thirds of trains and RER B only half. No connecting trains at the Gare du Nord.

Due to strikes at the nuclear power plants, France has had to import record quantities of electricity even. On Wednesday they imported 5,990 Mw, which equalled the equivalent of the production of 6 nuclear reactors.

You can see some news items on French TV, and I especially recommend looking at the item titled « Operation Escargot », which is where trucks purposefully drive at about 5km/h along a motorway – a wonderful disruptive display ! (These items are in French)

However President Sarkozy has said there will be “no backdown” – he has appealed for calm but insists he will press ahead with plans to raise the retirement age. The controversial legislation was set to be approved by the Senate today, but the vote has been delayed and is now expected to pass in the next days.

Let’s see what happens next?