If you’re planning to travel by train in France this summer, keep a close eye on the news—one of the country’s major rail-worker unions has posted a strike notice covering the period from June 12th through September 1st.
That doesn’t mean that there will be a three-month strike; the notice means that the union, Sud-Rail, will be legally free to strike at any point, or for any amount of time during that period, and there could be numbers of strikes on different parts of the network.
Normally, there is five days’ notice when an action is set, but that might be less this summer because the union was upset when national rail operator SNCF took advantage of prior notice on previous strikes to recruit management volunteers to scab on the strike.
Other unions in the rail system may also strike, either together with Sud-Rail or separately; one union is calling for a ticket collectors’ strike on June 11th. Overall, issues in the disputes include scheduling, pensions, working conditions and demands for a bonus.
