Rail workers in France have become the latest group of transport staff to stage a walkout over pay as disruption to travel services continues around Europe this summer.
Several French rail unions are holding a 24-hour strike on Wednesday (6 July), which is affecting services across SNCF’s network. The unions are demanding an increase in wages.
This latest strike forced the cancellation of around one quarter of TGV high-speed trains on Wednesday, while SNCF’s long-distance Intercite and regional TER services have suffered even more disruption due to the walkout. International train operations, including Eurostar, were expected to operate as normal.
The industrial action in France comes just two weeks after the UK suffered its largest rail strike in more than 30 years in a dispute about pay and jobs, which affected the entire national network for a week.
So far, no more UK rail strikes have been announced by the RMT union. But the dispute is far from settled with the union’s general secretary Mick Lynch stating earlier this week that they were involved in “the fight of our lifetime” to get the kind of deal they wanted from National Rail and the train operators.
Aviation is also facing its own disruption, with SAS pilots walking out earlier this week causing the cancellation of around half the airline’s schedule; both Ryanair and easyJet are facing industrial action in Spain as well.
British Airways may also soon face further disruption to its operations this summer after its ground staff voted to take strike action in another dispute over pay.
Meanwhile, fuel workers at London Heathrow airport, who are employed by Aviation Fuel Services, which supplies fuel to more than 70 airlines, are due to go on strike for 72 hours from 21-24 July as they try to secure a pay rise.
The latest strikes come as Europe’s transport sector struggles to cope with a strong resurgence in travel demand this summer and a continued shortage of staff after cutting back during the pandemic.