French airport worker unions call for strike week before Paris Olympics
UNIONS representing workers at Paris’ airports said on Monday (Jul 8) that they had called for a strike the week before the Paris Olympics over a dispute about bonuses for staff.
The CGT, CFDT, FO and UNSA unions called the strike on Jul 17 – nine days before the start of the Paris Games – to demand that all staff receive an Olympics bonus, denouncing “unilateral decisions from the chief executive to pay a bonus to only some personnel”.
Unions at state-controlled Groupe ADP, which runs Paris’ main airports Charles de Gaulle and Orly, had previously called a strike on May 19, which did not cause major disruption.
The two airports will be the main gateways into France for foreign visitors to the Olympics, with up to 350,000 people expected to transit there daily, as well as most athletes and their equipment.
Competitors are expected to begin arriving in large numbers from Jul 18, when the athletes’ village opens, with a new temporary over-sized baggage terminal at Charles de Gaulle set up to handle equipment such as kayaks and bikes.
Unions representing workers across the public sector in France have demanded extra pay or support for having to work over the Jul 26 to Aug 11 Games, which fall during the traditional summer holiday in France.
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As well as company-wide bonuses, the ADP unions want a “massive” recruitment plan for 1,000 extra staff and a guarantee that they can take holidays during the Olympics, which run from Jul 26 to Aug 11, followed by the Paralympics from Aug 28 to Sep 8.
“All the trade unions have unilaterally denounced the divisive methods and choices of management,” a joint statement from them said. “We have to conclude that the chief executive has dismissed our demands.”
CEO Augustin de Romanet is set to step down after the Olympics.
The threat of strikes disrupting the Paris Games has been regularly discussed in France because of the country’s often tension-filled industrial relations and militant trade unions.
Chief organiser Tony Estanguet called for a “truce” during the competition.
“I want us to welcome the world in the best possible conditions and that we don’t spoil the party,” he told French television in February.
On the eve of the 1998 football World Cup in France, pilots at national carrier Air France went on strike along with taxi drivers and other transport workers.
Police, air traffic controllers, rubbish collectors, central government employees, metro and train drivers as well as firefighters have all made pay demands ahead of the Olympics, with bosses under pressure to yield to avoid disruption.
Workers at the national mint, which is making the medals, have also been on strike, but management says that production has not been affected. AFP
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