Unions across several sectors are preparing for a day of widespread strike action in France tomorrow (Friday October 13).
The day is being described as a ‘Black Friday’ for some public sectors, particularly healthcare but not all areas of life will be impacted in the same way and the number of workers walking out will vary between sectors.
It is a Europe-wide protest day with strikes planned across multiple countries. Unusually France is once again being co-ordinated by a coalition of all eight major unions, which usually strike independently.
With the strikes taking place on Friday, it is also breaking the usual norm of Tuesday or Thursday strike action unions engage in.
Marches and demonstrations are being planned throughout the day, but it is highly unlikely they will reach the scales seen earlier this year, when unions protested the pension reform bill.
The largest demonstration will be in Paris – where a march between place d’Italie and place Vauban will take place. Up to 150,000 people are expected to join demonstrations across 200 towns and cities around the country.
Below we look at what areas are being impacted by the strikes.
Trains
National train services have not been heavily impacted, with fewer disruptions than during the strikes at the beginning of the year.
Exact information over whether your exact train is cancelled can be found using the search function on SNCF Connect website.
If travelling on a national services (Intercités, InOui, or Ouigo) you should have received confirmation that your train was cancelled last night, if it had been.
National rail service is ‘quasi-normal’ today with only minor interruptions.
Regional TER services have been more heavily affected. Local services in most regions have seen partial disruptions to routes (particularly in Occitanie and Brittany/Centre-Val de Loire), although in Hauts-de-France and Normandy most trains are running without any disruptions.
It is recommended that you check on local travel information websites for exact disruptions in your local area.
Paris’ metro system is running 'as normal’, but regional RER and Transilien services to the suburbs have been affected by strike action.
There are disruptions on RER lines C and D, as well as slight disruptions on RER line E, as well as on suburban lines H, L, N, R, and U.
Other local tram, metro and bus networks may be impacted, and you should check to see whether your local services are affected.
Planes
Air travel has been hit fairly hard by the strikes, with the Direction générale de l’aviation civile (France’s civil aviation authority) cancelling a number of flights.
Around four in ten flights from Paris Orly have been cancelled for tomorrow as well as 20% from Marseille and 15% from Paris Beauvais.
However, these seem to be the only three airports affected in France. Some flights flying over French airspace may also be impacted, however, meaning you should still check your flight details if travelling today.
Read more: Trains, flights: how to be reimbursed for strike action in France
Ferries
No France-UK Ferry services are reported to be affected, although you should still check to see your service is running today.
Doctors
Healthcare has been hit hard by the strikes - in some areas, up to 80% of doctors surgeries will be closed for an “indeterminate” amount of time.
Many self-employed doctors (GPs and specialists) have begun an ‘unlimited’ strike with hundreds of thousands of appointment slots cancelled.
Their strike coincides with the wider movement, but is also related to the separate issue of medical consultation fees paid by patients.
Self-employed doctors want these to be raised significantly, and after a failure to come to an agreement earlier this year with the Assurance maladie, they are striking again in support of this.
Public sector healthcare workers in hospitals, as well as SOS Médecins workers, who answer calls to the ‘15’ emergency number, are also striking, although in fewer numbers.
Their action, however, will only be on the Friday and not prolonged, as the self-employed doctors’ strike.
Read more: What to do if you need doctor during strikes starting Friday in France
Oil refineries
Unlike the protests at the beginning of the year, oil refinery workers are not set to strike, meaning there will be no disruption to the delivery of fuel to service stations, nor a stop to crude oil refining.
Lorry drivers and transport workers have been encouraged to “support the strike” by other unions, however have not officially filed a strike motion, and do not seem to have caused disruption so far.
Education
The main teachers’ unions have all backed the strike, calling on teachers to walk out.
Primary schools have to give 48 hours’ notification of strike action – meaning any disruptions will have already been relayed to parents – although secondary schools are not bound by the same rules.
Many secondary school teachers are set to strike, but there have been no major reports of school closures today in France.
You should check the situation for secondary schools in your local area, although you should have been notified by the school if any closures or cancellations were set to take place.
Higher education unions (for universities and research colleges) are also supporting action but it does not appear that universities will be blocked or disrupted like they were during the pension reform protests.
Civil servants
Civil servant unions have also called on members to strike but civilian-facing services are not expected to be severely impacted.
Some disruptions could be seen though, particularly for walk-in services.
La Poste workers will not be striking.
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