Strikes in April & May may affect European travel

Friday, April 21, 2023

Industrial actions organised by many dissatisfied workers in different sectors have overcome the European countries since the year began.

Consequently, travelling has been severely affected, with airlines cancelling flights, experiencing disruptions, warning delays, or advising passengers to carry lightweight luggage in order to facilitate checking-in procedures.

Schengen Visa portal lists the European countries that will be expecting strikes and other industrial actions in the upcoming weeks, which can be stretched out all throughout April and May.

Italian Unions Warn Over Transport Strikes Scheduled for April & May

A 24-hour general strike will hit Italy on April 21, with the industrial action being initiated by the Italian union CUB, opposing the unfavourable work contracts and the potential introduction of the minimum salary.

Schengen Visa will report in the upcoming days for more details on how the strike will unfold, while presently, it is expected that both underground and surface services to be affected.

The following two actions are expected to occur on April 30 and May 1 – with railway staff entering a 24-hour strike, while on May 26, another 24-hour-long general strike has been announced.

The latter action is anticipated to affect almost all surface services such as busses, tram services, and metro lines, while interregional rail services haven’t yet been confirmed if they will be affected by the walkout.

The late-May action was called by the Italian union USB to protest against work contracts and low wages.

Air traffic will also be affected by strikes as cabin staff at Air Dolomiti, a Lufthansa subsidiary operating flights from Germany to 13 Italian destinations, will enter a 24-hour national strike on May 19.

In addition, all Volotea cabins will go on a four-hour strike (from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.) on the same day.

French Pension Protests Might Keep Going for Another Month

Sophie Binet, head of the CGT union, has asked Paris garbage collectors to resume their strike, in addition to unions of rail workers also calling for walkouts on Thursday in protest against the pension reforms, showing strong indications that the protest may continue for another week.

Moreover, another walkout is expected to occur on April 28, while on May 1, which is France’s Labour Day, unions have called for national protest, and disruptions to many services linked to transport most certainly can occur.

Schengen Visa previously reported that 6,338 flights to and from France were cancelled due to pension protests in France between January 19 and April 9, as Frenchmen are set to object to President Macron’s proposal to increase the pension age from 62 to 64.

German Public Sector Takes a Break From Strikes

German public sector workers have suspended the transport sector strikes temporarily, with a risk of the industrial actions being resumed in late April.

The union representatives and officials entered the arbitration period after inclusive discussions over pay and other concerns workers had to address.

German workers, those working in the public transport sector, more specifically, joined several strikes last month, asking for better salaries and working conditions as the inflation rate in Germany stood at 7.4 per cent as of March 2023.

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