AIR PASSENGERS travelling between Ireland and France face delays and cancellations today as French trade unions intensify their campaign against pension reforms with another wave of strikes.
Half of flights to and from Paris Orly airport and one in three at Charles de Gaulle and Beauvais will be cancelled because of walk-outs by air traffic controllers.
Ryanair said it had been forced to cancel 250 flights in all – 12 in and out of Irish airports – while Aer Lingus said it had cancelled two flights between Dublin and Charles de Gaulle but was planning to operate other services as normal.
Air France said at least two flights from Paris to Dublin would be cancelled, while intercity trains, the Paris metro, schools and postal services are also expected to be disrupted.
The latest wave of strikes and protests, the fourth in a month, begins a decisive week in the battle of wills between President Nicolas Sarkozy and the unions over the government’s plan to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.
In an attempt to cut short the unions’ escalating campaign, the government has brought forward the debate on the Bill in the senate and hopes to have voted on the most contentious elements by the end of the week.
Union leaders – encouraged by opinion polls which show public support for their protests remains strong – have this time threatened rolling strikes, though they have so far stopped short of openly advocating what is considered their “nuclear option”.
Despite three mass protests in four weeks, which brought millions of people on to the streets, the government has so far offered only marginal concessions on its pensions Bill.
Ministers insist that without major changes, the pensions system would run up annual deficits of €50 billion by 2020.
With another protest scheduled for next Saturday and the senate debate under way, Le Figaro’s front page billed this as “the week when everything will be settled” on pension reform.
The head of the large CFDT union, François Chérèque, said this was “one of the last chances to make the government retreat” and expected turnout to be at least as high as for recent demonstrations.
The unions have claimed each time that between 2½ and 3 million people took part, though police estimates have been considerably lower.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary described today’s action as unnecessary and suggested that “if these people don’t want to work, then replace them with military and other controllers who do wish to work”.
Ryanair has cancelled six flights between Dublin and Nice, Rodez and Paris Beauvais airports, and two more between Dublin and Madrid due to restrictions in French airspace.
A further two Ryanair flights between Shannon and Beauvais have been cancelled as have two others between Knock airport and Reus in Spain.
The strike is renewable by a daily vote of workers, but it was unclear how many were likely to do so, with employees in some sectors planning only a one-day action.
The powerful CGT union called for rolling strikes from today at all French ports, which have already been badly disrupted by a localised dispute at the Fos-Lavera oil hub in southern France for the past three weeks.
A poll published in the daily Le Parisien showed that 61 per cent were in favour of a “continuous and lasting” strike, while 69 per cent supported today’s planned action.