France braces for September strikes by transport, public service workers

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) – Transport and public services workers are set to protest across France throughout the month of September for better pay and working conditions, according to local media reports.

The first of several expected strikes will be held in various cities this Thursday to Saturday, coinciding with the reopening of schools and major clearance sales over the weekend.

Authorities in Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Tours, Pau, Caen, Le Mans, and Toulon have announced that transport services will be disrupted over the coming days.

Romain Cusco, a representative of the CGT union, told broadcaster France 3 that transport sector employees are “overworked.”

He said workers have been pressing for pay hikes for almost six months, but managements failed to give an adequate response, leaving them with no option but to strike.

In Lille, three unions – CGT, CFDT and CFTC – have called for a strike this weekend, which could be particularly disruptive as the city gears up for the return of its grand flea market after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

The CGT is also pushing for public services workers – employees of various city and regional authorities, housing and municipal services, and utility companies – to hold strikes throughout September.

The protests aim to bring about an “end to job cuts and closures of public services, the reopening of local public and social services ... recruitment and opening of necessary positions and an increase of at least 10% in the number of civil servants,” according to the CGT.

Among other things, the CGT is seeking a minimum wage of €2,000 ($1,997) and wants the government to shelve President Emmanuel Macron and Premier Elisabeth Borne’s plan to raise the retirement age from 60 years to 64.