Next France strike & protest dates : Feb 7 and 11 (and 8 for two rail unions)

Watching strike action announcements closely. Pre-Best of Paris (12-18 Feb) I plan on train travel 10 Feb to Chartres, then 12 Feb back to Paris, then after tour, a train to Reims 18 Feb, followed by the Reims to CDG on the 20Th. I insist all my European trips involve trains.

Thanks to a stationmaster in Stirling Scotland, I was able to avoid a Sunday rail strike and travel to Inverness a day earlier than planned to be early for a Steves Best of Scotland Hope to avoid the unexpected strike adventures. ab

It’s so helpful when people post transportation strikes when they get their news. We were in Rome independently once off a cruise ship for a day and had no idea it was happening until getting to train station and all closed up! Taxis had wait lines down the block! We had to run for ever to catch regional train back. Made it by one second! We would have won the “Amazing Race!” We so wished we had a heads up on the strike!

I've removed a post per our #1 guideline. Please keep the topic about the affect on travel, please.

Bumping this back up, as Tuesday is coming....

Expect significant closures on both Paris métro (and local transit systems in other cities) as well as on trains nationwide.

Kim, Metro Line 1 will still be running since it's automatic, right?

Very thoughtful of you , Kim

Yes, lines 1 and 14 will run as normal, although on Line 1, although the Hôtel de Ville station will remain closed all day, and Champs Élysées Clemenceau station (and Reuilly Diderot) will only open during rush hours.

https://www.ratp.fr/infos-trafic

Thanks for posting this. How far in advance are strikes typically posted? (Planning to travel in early March and relying on trains between Marseille->Avignon->Aix->Marseille->Lyon)

Hi Kim,
Can't tell you much I appreciate these posts.
I'm scheduled to be in Paris from February 15 -22 and currently have plans to pay a surprise visit to a very dear friend of mine in Montluel. I also plan to visit Reims for the very first time, though I've been to France five or six times before. I'm intending to take trains, but who knows if that will transpire. If you can keep posting, it would be very much appreciated here in Boston. Merci beaucoup

Please keep us posted, Kim! I am supposed to be traveling by train on Feb. 11, and hope I don't have to rearrange my plans!

Carolyn, you’re in luck. Yesterday the two SNCF unions that had been calling for a strike for Sat Feb 11 decided against it.

They are making a very deliberate political calculation:
1) French public opinion for now has remained strongly in favor of the strikers.
2) Feb 11 is the start of the school holidays for several different parts of the country.
3) therefore, in an attempt to keep public opinion on their side and avoid pissing people off, they have decided NOT to strike — but have called on strong participation in the protest marches that will be held that day.

As for how long the strikes could go on: as long as the bill is under debate. I.e. as long as it is a bill being considered by parliament and while the unions and their members still have some hope of influencing the vote, they are likely to continue to strike.

Right now, the legislative calendar calls for parliamentary debate to continue through March 26. So I would expect the possibility of strikes or protests up through at least March 26.

As for how far in advance the strikes are being announced — it's seemed like something like a week or 10 days. Usually toward the end of a strike day, the union leaders get together to figure out their next steps. So late that same evening France time, there has usually been an announcement of the next planned date. However, at that early time, you don’t yet know how widely followed the strike calls will be.

By law, the striking workers have to inform their company/public utility (such as the rail operator SNCF) 48 hours in advance that they plan to strike. The operator then gets to work determining how much service they can provide based on how many people will be striking. So - between 48 and 24 hours in advance, you get the service projections (I.e. which trains will be running or not, how many flights to be cancelled etc).

Thank you, Kim, for the update & clarification!

Helpful thread, I am monitoring this.