All posts tagged: Public strikes

Cannes film festival workers call for strike days before gala opening

Cannes film festival workers call for strike days before gala opening

Published by Sam

Workers at the Cannes Film Festival called for a strike over pay and conditions on Monday, just a week before the event was due to start.  Issued on: 06/05/2024 – 15:46 1 min Members of a collective called Sous les Ecrans la Deche (“Poverty Behind the Screens”) said they did not intend to cause significant disruption but wanted to draw attention to long-running demands.  “The strike will not put the opening of the festival at risk but there could be disruptions as it goes on,” a spokesperson told AFP. The group said it represented around 100 workers, including projectionists, programmers, press agents and ticket sellers.  They work on short-term contracts but do not fall under France’s unemployment insurance scheme for freelance artists and technicians in the cultural sector, which tops up salaries to a minimum wage.  “Most of us will have to give up working, which will jeopardise the events,” the group said in a statement. “The forthcoming opening of the Cannes Film Festival has a bitter taste for us this year,” it added.  The …

Hundreds of flights cancelled despite French air traffic controllers calling off strike

Hundreds of flights cancelled despite French air traffic controllers calling off strike

Published by Sam

Hundreds of flights were cancelled at French airports Thursday despite the country’s main air traffic controllers’ union dropping a call for a one-day strike after making a deal for higher pay. Issued on: 24/04/2024 – 23:26 2 min In Paris around 75 percent of flights at Orly and 55 percent at Charles de Gaulle airport will be dropped Thursday, the DGAC civil aviation authority told airlines in a notification seen by AFP on Wednesday. Around 65 percent of services at Marseille airport and 45 percent elsewhere in France will also be cancelled, it added. The impact is expected to be similar to the cancellations expected when the strike was still going ahead. Earlier Wednesday, the SNCTA union walked back a strike call, saying it had struck a deal for higher pay and other measures with the DGAC. The union’s demands had come in response to a planned overhaul of French air-traffic control systems. The DGAC said that despite the strike’s cancellation, the last-minute deal with the SNCTA and the need to finalise details with smaller …

French air traffic controller strike threaten travel chaos at Paris airports

French air traffic controller strike threaten travel chaos at Paris airports

Published by Sam

French air traffic controllers are to stage a one-day strike Thursday that risks seeing most flights cancelled at the two main Paris airports, France’s leading aviation association warned Tuesday. Issued on: 23/04/2024 – 19:03 1 min Unions called the strike after a breakdown of negotiations on salary increases and other measures in a planned overhaul of France’s air traffic control system. The action has raised new concerns over the risk of strikes during the Olympic Games that Paris is due to host from late July, when hundreds of thousands of extra visitors are expected. The main air traffic union has also warned it could order several days of strike action over a busy May holiday weekend if its demands are not met.  The strike is going to be “very strongly followed”, said Pascal de Izaguirre, the head of FNAM, an umbrella group of French aviation industry unions. He said 75 percent of flights could be cancelled at Paris Orly airport and 65 percent at Charles de Gaulle, the capital’s main airport. Regional airports are also …

Major French union threatens public sector strike during Paris Oympics

Major French union threatens public sector strike during Paris Oympics

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A major French union warned of possible strikes, including at hospitals, during the Paris Olympics, when a massive influx of people is in the French capital.  Issued on: 07/03/2024 – 14:02 2 min Speaking to France Info media on Thursday, the general secretary of the CGT said the union will give a notice of strike in public services during the Games, which are held in July-August. The Paralympics take place in August-September. Paris’ tourism office predicts up to 15.9 million people could visit the Paris region during July-September. “We want the government to take immediate action to ensure the success of the Games,” Sophie Binet said. “For this to happen, our warnings must be heeded and the Games must be prepared from a social point of view. We’ve been saying the same thing for months now, and no one cares. It’s getting very tiresome.” The social situation in France remains tense, amid protests from teachers, police officers and farmers in recent weeks that followed huge demonstrations last year against the rise in retirement age. Binet …

Doctors in England launch longest strike in NHS history

Doctors in England launch longest strike in NHS history

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Hospital doctors in England on Wednesday began their longest consecutive strike in the seven-decade history of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). Issued on: 03/01/2024 – 07:05Modified: 03/01/2024 – 08:57 2 min Junior doctors – those below consultant level – started a six-day walkout, in a major escalation of their long-running pay dispute with the UK government. The industrial action comes at one of the busiest times of the year for the state-funded NHS, when it faces increased pressure from winter respiratory illnesses. It also quickly follows a three-day strike held by doctors just before Christmas. The NHS said the latest stoppage, which could see up to half of the medical workforce on picket lines, would have “a significant impact on almost all routine care”. “This January could be one of the most difficult starts to the year the NHS has ever faced,” said its national medical director, Stephen Powis. The strike is due to end at 0700 GMT next Tuesday. The British Medical Association (BMA) announced the walkout in December after a breakdown in talks with the …