Transport workers go on 48-hour walkout, travel chaos for British holidaymakers

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

On Thursday and Friday the French rail staff will walk out for their next 48-hour stoppage. So far 80 percent of TGV high-speed have run on conventional inter-city routes  in some of the suburban lines but mostly the services were cancelled.

The British holidaymakers will face travel disruption over the next four days because of strikes by the transport workers.The morning rush-hour trains between London and Paris by Eurostar has been cancelled on Thursday and four trains on Friday. However, the passengers have the flexibility of alternative service or claiming a full refund.

Until June 28 the strikes will continue every five day and it might also extend over July and August.The rail staff working for Trenitalia in Italy and Italo will go on strike from 10 pm on Thursday  to 6 am on Sunday.

Rome, Turin and Verona’s local transport will be disrupted by a 24-hour strike on Friday and workers in Milan and Naples may also take action. The aviation staff have also called on a strike leading to travel disruption for airline passengers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Dozens of flights will be grounded due to the controllers stopping work between 1pm and 5pm on Friday. The Italian air-traffic controllers will be joining a day of industrial action by public servants.

Controllers in the Marseilles Area Control Centre will stage another walk-out on the weekends

The southeast quarter of France, the island of Corsica and a large tranche of Mediterranean airspace till the southern tip of Sardinia is covered by the centre.

The Air France management staff and its pilot, cabin crew and ground staff continue to face disputes over pay and Jean-Marc Janaillac –its previous boss resigned after the workers rejected the pay deal.

Anne-Marie Couderc, has taken over temporarily as president until September.

The Northern Rail franchise may see more than 24-hour strikes on 19, 21, and 23 June and an emergency time table was launched after the botched introduction of new schedules last month.

 
The RMT general secretary, Mick Cash stated that Northern is a company which has declared war on its passengers and staff alike but RMT will not stand aside. The threat to axe safety critical guards from Northern services remains central to the company plans.

But the train operators mentioned that wished to introduce changes in the conductor’s role that will provide them with a better service.  Due to the proposed changes there will be no job or pay cuts.

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