November 2007 Strikes in France - Conclusion of The Strikes

Conclusion of The Strikes

Minister of Employment, Social Cohesion and Housing Xavier Bertrand, whose portfolio includes labor relations, held several negotiating sessions with the unions throughout the day on 13 and 14 November. Bertrand told the unions that pension reform was non-negotiable, but proposed a month-long period of negotiations between the unions and each state-controlled agency to discuss ways to minimize the effects on existing workers.

Some improvements in mass transit also occurred on 14 November. The main Métro commuter lines remained shut, while other lines ran between 20 and 50 percent of normal capacity. However, only a third of Paris buses were running. The Associated Press reported that 150 of the 700 high-speed TGV trains were running, an increase of 60 over the day before.

On 18 November, a demonstration was held by pro-reform and anti-strike organizations in Paris. They gathered between 8,000 and 20,000 protesters against public transportation strikers, calling them "hostage takers".

20 November marked the 7th day of striking and strikers were joined by other civil servants including teachers, postal workers and newspaper printers. The printers were also protesting against reorganisations within the printing industry. Air traffic control employees were also on strike, causing delays of 45 minutes on flights from the Parisian airports according to ADP.

During the night from 20 November to 21 November, the TGV network was sabotaged by fires, further adding to the delays. Approximately 30 kilometres of track were damaged, both the unions and the President condemned these acts.

On 21 November, the CGT called for the strikes to stop as the government has allegedly agreed to negotiate. An opinion poll published in the Figaro estimates 2/3 of the French are against the strike, and the Ministry of Economy declared that the strike was costing the French economy €400 million a day and SNCF €100 million a day. According to the SNCF, the operator of the national train lines 23% of their staff were still on strike, while the RATP operating the Paris Métro, and some suburban trains claimed 16% of their staff were on strike. However the service on the Parisian trains and Métro was still below 25% because most of the strikers were train drivers.

On 21 November the number of strikers continued to diminish, and talks were engaged in-between the government and the unions.

Strikes continued on 22 November with the numbers of strikers still diminishing, and public transport was still heavily affected. Following a day of ongoing talks with the government, 42 of the 45 union committees voted to stop the strike, and the RATP and SNCF announced almost normal levels of service for 23 November, with in-between 70 and 100% of public transport services running. It is said talks could last for a month.