Whathello

Another strike - some say it can be a tough one.

Dear Sir or Madam,

We inform you that SNCF (French national railway company) will be on strike this Wednesday, March 9.
The strike will start Tuesday, March 8 at 7 PM until March 10 at 8 AM.
Disruptions will be expected. We then recommend travelers to anticipate their travel by following the evolution of the situation on the SNCF website.

Robert2533

This could be a new (NYTimes) travel piece, "37 hours somewhere in France".

PalenQ

Another SNCF strike - was a spate last spring - I guess in France you can never rely on the train running on any certain day.

kerouac

The metro will also be on strike that day. Have fun!

PalenQ

Wellthere's always Velib' bike sharing scheme in Paris...if not booked out that day.

Are buses also on strike? (In Paris)

kerouac

You probably have to be a Parisian to understand this but even though the SNCF and the RATP (metro, buses, trams & RER) will be affected by a strike call, this really means very little. Every single SNCF commuter line, RATP metro line, RATP bus line, etc., has independent union management, so some lines can be completely closed while others are operating at 90%.

Most strikes in recent years have been quite weak, and locals know this while visitors are in complete panic. After all, France is the least unionized country in the developed world with only 8% union membership.

You need to consult the SNCF and RATP websites on the day of the strike, since they give percentages of service throughout the day -- and you do need to check it regularly because there are major fluctuations depending on various shifts.

And also, no predictions of participation will be made until 24 hours before the strike, because that is when employees are required by law to state whether they plan to strike or not.

Whathello

It seems this strike has been voted by all (at least the 4 major) unions of RATP. A first since 2013 says the article below.

http://actu.orange.fr/une/sncf-les-q...0000kzbpU.html

kerouac

And yet I have no memory of the strike of 2013. The only strike that ever made an impression on me was the strike of 1995 when all of the tourist boats were requisitioned to carry people up and down the Seine and commuters from the suburbs had to take military transport vehicles from various pickup points. Those were the days!

I'm pretty sure that this strike will fizzle because it was called to protest an upcoming new labor law, which was supposed to be presented this week but which has now been postponed for another two weeks to be rewritten. So anybody going on strike will be striking against a completely unclear future issue just for the pleasure of losing their salary on that day.

Most workers are not that silly, no matter what the union representatives say.

Whathello

Let us hope. In Belgium workers on strike get paid by the unions. So they get a free day with barbecues and beer.
Difficult to resist. ;-)