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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 4 april 2018

Strike causes French railway chaos, with more to come

By ANGELA CHARLTON and ger at the overall situation,
MASHA MACPHERSON but were not necessarily
PARIS (AP) — A major French taking sides.
railway strike brought the "Really this is catastrophic.
country's famed high- Something needs to be
speed trains to a halt Tues- done. We are the victims.
day, leaving passengers We haven't done anything.
stranded or scrambling for We need to get to work like
other options — and pos- everyone else," Aziza Fleris,
ing the biggest test so far 56, said.
of President Emmanuel Ma- "I was really positive this
cron's economic strategy. morning, but now — you
The SNCF national rail au- should have seen what
thority said only about 12 happened on the train.
percent of trains were run- Some people felt unwell,
ning during the first of a women were crying. Chil-
series of weekly two-day dren. This isn't normal," Fleris
strikes that labor unions said.
have called for the next SNCF said 77 percent of
three months. train drivers were on strike.
Rail service is expected The overall proportion of
to remain "very disturbed" rail workers participating in
Wednesday, with 86 per- the work stoppage includ-
cent of trains canceled ing employees on trains
nationwide, according to and on the ground— was
forecasts from state-owned 33.9 percent, the company
SNCF. detailed in a statement.
International traffic also will Labor unions say Macron French rail workers demonstrate in Lyon, central France, Tuesday, April 3, 2018.
be reduced for a second — a centrist former invest- Associated Press
day from Paris to London ment banker whom critics
and between France and consider the president of
Germany, SNCF predicted. the rich — is threatening A group of about 100 peo- from France's unions. sential pillar of the country's
No trains are expected hard-fought French rights ple, most of them young, There was further disruption infrastructure and its public
to be operating between that workers in other coun- overtook the striking train in the air, with Air France services.
France and Italy, Spain and tries envy, as well as dam- workers and their support- canceling a quarter of its The government wants to
Switzerland, the railway aging the whole idea of ers at the Paris march, flights Tuesday amid a strike maintain the status for ex-
company said. public service. smashing shop and bank over pay. isting workers, but abolish it
The strike's impact imme- A few thousand demon- windows. Students also blocked for new workers.
diately was visible on Tues- strators marched through The police charged the campuses to protest plans Macron's government says
day .Passengers hitched the French capital at the crowd and ordered the to allow selection in state the guarantee is no longer
rides on traffic-clogged call of rail workers union. demonstration dispersed. universities, while garbage tenable in a globalized
roads and shared travel "We are very satisfied with No injuries were reported. collectors are on strike to and increasingly automat-
tips online. the number of strikers be- Five people were detained. protest what they say are ed economy that requires
At the Gare de Lyon station cause due to the strike All in all, it was one of the worsening working condi- more flexible workforces.
in eastern Paris, platforms practically the entire rail- worst days of industrial strife tions. In addition, with European
were so packed that com- way network was para- in France since Macron was Rail workers are protesting Union rules requiring all
muters spilled over onto the lyzed," Francois Grasa, elected president nearly plans to eliminate a special member states to open up
tracks as they waited for in- leader of the FO Cheminots a year ago. Macron has status that they've enjoyed government-run railways
frequent trains. Two people (Railway Workers) Union, made reforming France's for decades. to competition, the gov-
were injured, including a said. economy a central plank The "cheminot" status ef- ernment argues that the
woman in the head, ac- "It doesn't make us happy of his presidency. Many of fectively guarantees jobs special status puts SNCF
cording to SNCF manager to go on strike. We lose his plans, particularly in the for life and other benefits, in at a disadvantage com-
Alain Krakovitch. money when we are on labor market, are meeting keeping with the image of pared to potential private
Commuters expressed an- strike," Grasa added. with increasing opposition France's railways as an es- competitors.q