Multiple unions
that represent workers at Parisian airports today jointly announced plans to strike on
July 17, just days before the 2024
Paris Summer Olympics are set to commence, due to a dispute over staff bonus
payments and working conditions.
The unions CGT,
CFDT, FO and UNSA have called for the strike to demand that all airport staff
receive an Olympics bonus, as well as additional resources during this bustling
travel period. According to CBS
News, they are protesting against, "unilateral decisions from the
chief executive to pay a bonus to only some personnel."
Back on May 19,
the unions at Groupe ADP—which operates the two main airports that serve Paris:
Orly and Charles de Gaulle—had also staged a strike, which did not wind up
causing major travel disruptions.
However, this
upcoming strike could have significant implications, since Charles de Gaulle
and Orly airports will serve as the main entry points for foreign visitors and
athletes arriving for the Paris Olympics. Up to 350,000 people per day are
expected to pass through these airports during the Games, including competitors
who will have checked most of their sporting equipment as luggage.
The Olympic athletes'
village is set to open on July 18, and thousands of athletes will begin
arriving from that date. A new temporary terminal at Charles de Gaulle has been
set up to accommodate oversized baggage containing such equipment as kayaks,
bikes and pole-vaulting poles.
By way of
comparison, another recent strike involving air traffic controllers at Orly (France’s
second-busiest airport) resulted in the cancellation of over 70 percent of
flights during one weekend in May, according to France
24. It was the second such strike seen in a month-long period, the first of
which caused thousands of flights all across Europe
to be canceled.
Airport workers
are not the only ones feeling the pressure and demanding extra compensation as
a result. Throughout the country, unions representing all kinds of public
sector employees are demanding extra pay or support for working during the Paris
Olympic Games, which run from July 26 through August 11 and overlap France’s
traditional summer holiday period.
Various sectors,
including police, firefighters, air traffic controllers, garbage collectors, metro
rail and train drivers, and central government employees have all made such
demands. Workers are using the proximity of this major international event as leverage,
pressuring their employers to acquiesce to their demands in order to avoid
disruptions.
Even workers at
the national mint, who are responsible for producing the Olympic medals, have gone
on strike. However, management has stated that production of these coveted prizes
has not been impacted.
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