France faces railway strikes amid disputes over major restructuring plans

France's leading railway unions have issued a threat of an indefinite strike to protest the restructuring of the freight transport company Fret SNCF.

The unions involved — CGT-Cheminots, Unsa-Ferroviaire, Sud-Rail, and CFDT-Cheminots — have announced their plans to begin with a strike from November 20 to 22, followed by an indefinite strike starting December 11, Caliber.Az reports citing French media.

The unions are strongly opposed to the French government's decision to liquidate Fret SNCF and split the company into two separate entities: Hexafret for transport services and Technis for locomotive maintenance. This restructuring has sparked a wave of discontent among workers.

This announcement comes on the heels of other significant labour actions in France. In October, a strike by Veolia workers in Marseille, the city’s waste collection service, led to heaps of uncollected rubbish piling up on the streets due to poor working conditions, including insufficient staffing and equipment.

To prevent further accumulation, the city authorities placed large rubbish bins on the streets but clarified that they could not intervene in disputes within private companies. The waste collectors have vowed to continue their strike until their demands are met. Veolia management has agreed to meet with the strikers for negotiations.

This follows last year’s strike by waste collectors in Paris, which saw more than 10,000 tons of waste accumulate over several weeks. Collages of President Emmanuel Macron among the waste quickly went viral online.

In related news, workers in Germany's metallurgical and electrical industries, including employees from Volkswagen (VW) and BMW, began their own wave of protests on October 29. The first phase of these protests, initiated by the IG Metall trade union, saw strikes across the country, including work stoppages at the Clarios battery plant in Hannover, Volkswagen's plant in Osnabrück, and at the BMW and Audi plants in Regensburg and Ingolstadt. These protests are partly in response to the closure threats faced by certain factories and the impact on workers' jobs.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented on the Volkswagen closures, attributing them to flawed management decisions.

By Tamilla Hasanova