- Title: No Christmas truce for French public transport strikers
- Date: 24th December 2019
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (DECEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CHEQUE FOR 250,000 EUROS SHOWING DONATIONS BY CGT LABOUR UNION FOR STRIKERS UNIONISTS APPLAUDING UNIONIST SPEAKING UNIONISTS GATHERED UNIONISTS APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (French) TRAIN CONDUCTOR AND CGT UNION MEMBER WHO WORKS FOR TRANSPORT COMPANY RATP, JEAN-LUC PRIGENT, SAYING: "So indeed, we were surprised by the amount which yesterday reached about a million euros in a rather short time, which shows that despite what is being conveyed, there is a movement of support. But why this support? Because we know very well that in France there are people who don't support the pension reform in the way it is presented by the government because the more we move forward, the more the explanations given become tangled. And like someone used to say, 'when it's not clear, you can trust it" and today citizens, people, artists, intellectuals are mobilising and that materialises with the sums given to help the strikers." LOGO OF METRO AND BUS OPERATOR RATP
- Embargoed: 7th January 2020 11:47
- Keywords: Christmas holidays Emmanuel Macron France Pension reform labour unions retirement strike trains
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Lawmaking,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001BBC44LJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Transport workers in Paris pushed on with their protest as strikes entered a twentieth day on Tuesday (December 24) with holiday-makers and commuters trying to reach their destinations ahead of Christmas Eve celebrations.
Some train operators part of the state-run RATP service, gathered to show the financial support they have been receiving and which allow them to go on with the strike.
"We were surprised by the amount which yesterday reached about a million euros in a rather short time, which shows that despite what is being conveyed, there is a movement of support," said CGT unionist Jean-Luc Prigent.
Two weeks of nationwide industrial action against French President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform, which would scrap special regimes for sectors like the railways and make people work to 64 to draw a full pension, have crippled train services.
Speaking on Saturday during a visit to Ivory Coast, Macron called on transport unions to suspend strikes during the Christmas holidays to avoid disrupting travel for families.
But despite calls by some unions to suspend strikes during the festive season, several rail workers' groups are continuing stoppages as travellers head off on holiday.
"The strike continues, there is no truce and we're glad about that, it means people are unhappy, so one needs to deal with it differently and not pretend everything is fine in the country," CGT union leader Philippe Martinez told France Info.
(Production: Antony Paone, Lucien Libert and Pascale Antonie) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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