France rail strike halts many trains
 

A nationwide strike by train staff in France has halted many rail services and is set to run into the weekend.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27834569

The strike began on Tuesday and is one of the longest to hit the railways. It has halted about half of inter-city trains and even more local trains.

I spend quite a bit of time in Paris and unfortunately strikes are such a way of life in France that I hardly notice. The RER suburban services seem to be affected by some sort of strike action almost half the time. This is more unusual when the main lines are affected so badly. What is most depressing is the completely selfish attitude of the strikers all the time with their total disregard for the severe inconvenience suffered by passengers. You would think that with several million unemployed it would be possible to find enough railwaymen who would actually be prepared to work. I understand they're not exactly low paid.

French "public servants" believe that that their jobs exist in order to give them employment. The idea that they are there to actually serve the public doesn't cross their minds and they would be horrified if anyone told them the truth. Things might change when the French government grasps the nettle due to their worsening financial crisis, their resulting austerity will be far worse than ours has been.

[QUOTE=ianrail;80991t You would think that with several million unemployed it would be possible to find enough railwaymen who would actually be prepared to work. I understand they're not exactly low paid.[/QUOTE]

So drag an unemployed person off the street and put him/her in charge of a 200 MPH TGV
or a signalling centre.
To work on a modern railway system yoy need SKILL & TRAINING.
And do you know why the railworkers are OUT ?
And pay is not everything, people go an strike for other reasons just look at our firefighters.

I wonder if the driverless metro trains are running?

depends if the people who pull the switches are working or not?

I agree with bubblewrap. We can't criticise strikers without knowing the reasons.
Richard

I am with Bubblewrap and Richard too.

I just had to read to the fifth line in the BBC article to find that the cause for the strike is not their salary.
Trade unions object to a government plan to unite the SNCF train operator with the RFF railway network. Workers fear the reform will mean job losses.

Why is it always that some people directly thinks that it is the salary that makes workers strike, when the reason is clearly stated.

I see Saturdays (21st June) Cumbrian Mountain Express has been cancelled due to the firefighters industrial action.:mad:

THE CUMBRIAN MOUNTAIN EXPRESS [CANCELLED] updated (17/06)
Newcastle-Carlisle (WCRC) [wcrc]
60009: Newcastle-York-Settle-Carlisle-Hexham-Newcastle
[Cancelled due to Firefighters strike. To be rescheduled to a new date]