Paris Metro: Will There Be an Ongoing Strike at RATP?

The RATP interunion claims it is ready to step up efforts to push the government back on pension reform.

The standoff between unions and the government will apparently continue for some time. In Paris public transport, the mobilization might even take another form and evolve into an ongoing strike. This is at least the threat recently issued by the RATP interunion.

In a statement released on Saturday, the CGT, FO, UNSA, and CFE-CGC are calling “for an ongoing strike starting March 7, 2023, to exert even greater pressure and achieve the withdrawal of this bill”. They believe that the government will have to “take responsibility for blocking the country” if it remains deaf to the demands of those opposed to the pension reform.

In the shorter term, the interunion already hopes for a “large participation” in the strike on Thursday, February 16. At this stage, it is difficult to determine to what extent RATP employees will follow the movement. Traffic forecasts are expected to be announced on Tuesday, February 14, at 5 p.m.

What about SNCF?

On the SNCF side, the idea of a continuous strike does not yet seem to be on the agenda. The interunion prefers to focus for now on the upcoming action day on February 16. “Our union federations are calling on SNCF rail workers and employees of the railway sector to participate massively in demonstrations and to act through strikes on February 16, 2023, to broaden, strengthen the mobilization and prepare for the necessary steps to bring down this reform”, declared the union organizations in a joint statement. Again, traffic forecasts have not yet been published.

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