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Regional train traffic in France operates this October 18 at half capacity due to the strike called by the unions, who demand answers to alleviate the rise in inflation.
Industries across France have gone on general strike to demand pay rises to keep pace with rising inflation, escalating the dispute between workers and the government after weeks of walkouts.
“It’s time to go back to work,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne reacted to the unemployed workers at the refineries of the oil giant TotalEnergies.
Railway and other transport employees, truck and bus companies, some high school teachers and employees of public hospitals responded to the oil workers union’s call for French industry to press for wage increases and protest the intervention. of the Government in the refinery strikes.
One out of every two trains circulated this October 18 on the railway network of the southern region, causing delays in the morning rush hour. There were reports of outages on high-speed trains in the north, as well as on the Eurostar and intercity trains linking France with Spain.
Europe is experiencing a wave of similar protests claiming the impact of inflation, causing disruptions such as the cancellation of flights and trains. Thousands of people have protested in Prague twice last month and airline workers have struck in places like Germany and Sweden to demand higher pay as inflation rises.
In France, the left-wing CGT union has rejected an agreement on a wage increase that oil giant TotalEnergies signed on Friday with two other unions. The CFDT and CFE-CGC unions, which together represent the majority of the group’s French workers, agreed to a 7% salary increase and an economic bonus.
The workers demand, in addition to the salary increase, to receive money from the profits of energy companies, which are taking advantage of the high prices of oil and gas as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The CGT rejected the agreement and asks that the wage increase be 10%, while calling for the protests to continue.
Meanwhile, many gas stations have closed to wait for supplies and thousands of people are lining up in long lines to fill up on fuel. The strikes represent the biggest challenge for French President Emmanuel Macron since he was re-elected in May.
French inflation reached 6.2% annually, the lowest among the 19 countries that use the euro, according to the European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat.
with AP
