- Title: FRANCE: French train strike goes into seventh day of action
- Date: 17th June 2014
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 17, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FLARES LIT DURING DEMO DEMO IN ACTION PROTESTERS HOLDING FLAGS DURING DEMO DEMO IN ACTION / PROTESTER BLOWING HORN VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS LISTENING TO SPEECH BALLOON READING (French): 'CGT FEDERATION OF RAILWAY WORKERS' PROTESTERS IN FRONT OF EIFFEL TOWER (SOUNDBITE) (French) RAILWAY WORKER ANNE MILAN SAYING: "I'm fighting
- Embargoed: 2nd July 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVADH6G2U25KMSEC6HNWHO77IG8U
- Story Text: French railway workers took part in the seventh day of strike action on Tuesday (June 17) over plans by the government to reform the sector.
The strike is one of the longest France has seen in years and has disrupted services since last Tuesday, testing the resolve of President Francois Hollande's government's to push through sometimes unpopular reforms.
Hollande's party presented its proposals for rail reform in spite of calls from hardline unions CGT and SUD to push back the debate over the plans, which are intended to prepare the sector ahead of EU reforms aimed at bringing more competition to European transport routes.
Thousands of members of the unions held a demo in Paris near to the French parliament to put pressure on politicians.
"I'm fighting today against the future dismantling of one of the last public companies which has not been dismantled by the Socialist Party, we will not give way, this reform must not pass because it's a disaster for the railway workers, of course, but also for passengers," said railway worker Anne Milan.
Their right is becoming unpopular, however, as a survey published Tuesday by French daily Le Parisien showed 76% of French people condemned the strike, which has already cost between 80 and 100 million euros to rail operator SNCF, according to its president Guillaume Pepy.
One out of four trains on some of the lines at the French capital's Gare Saint Lazare were running, where tourist John Birkhimer from Ohio in the United States was furious with the way things had been organised.
"We have strikes in the United States too and they're probably no different but when you buy a ticket and expect to go get on the train as they told us to and you get out there and they won't let you on the train, that's not good publicity. I will never come back to France," he told Reuters Television.
Parliament's bill suggests bringing SNCF and the RFF network owner into the same holding company, although their operations would be kept separate.
Hollande's Socialist government says the move would give the sector a more coherent structure as France and other European countries prepare for liberalisation.
Unions fear that working conditions would suffer and want SNCF and RFF to be fully merged into one entity as they were prior to 1997.
Passenger Beatrice Henry supported their right to strike but said railway workers should not be afraid of a merger.
"I can understand that one can be afraid of a merger, it's difficult, change is difficult, but there are also moments where you have to accept change because it's the only way to evolve. So you must not hold up things because you consistently are afraid of change," she said.
Members of parliament are expected to debate the bill until Thursday evening, and the National Assembly will deliver its decision on June 24. The law may come into action before the August summer break due to an accelerated procedure. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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