by Donald Wood
Last updated: 2:45 PM ET, Wed June 1, 2016
Rail travel in France has been disrupted by a strike Wednesday by three of the four unions representing rail workers, contesting their working conditions and changes to labor rules in the country.
According to The Associated Press, France's SNCF national rail authority announced that around 40 percent of the high-speed trains and more than half of regional trains in the country have been canceled Wednesday.
While the Eurostar trains to London are still running without interruption, almost half of the trains to Italy and Spain have been impacted by the strikes. In addition, the commuter trains serving Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris have also been affected.
The unions representing the striking workers say the strike is open-ended and could run through the European Championship soccer tournament next week. An estimated 2.5 million travelers are expected to attend the events across France.
The basis of the strike is workers rejecting new labor rules that include allowing employers more freedom to lay off staff and extend working hours. While the strikes are causing issues for both locals and tourists, many people support the strike due to its national impact on the working class.
Not everyone supports the strikes, though, as confusion is causing major delays for travelers trying to get around France.
"They cancelled my train yesterday, and now they told me to take another train, and they didn't say what the train station was," traveler Rossio Garcia told The AP. "I came running here and my train left and I missed my train. ... Now I have to go to the airport, and I am so tired."
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