Boost for Emmanuel Macron as French rail strike weakens
PARIS: The number of strikers on the French railways fell to its lowest level since a wave of stoppages began at the start of the month, the company said Monday.
As a fifth round of walkouts disrupted rail travel, the state-run SNCF said that 17.45 percent of workers were taking part, around half the level as on the first day on April 3 when it was 33.9 percent.
The falling numbers are a boost for the government of President Emmanuel Macron, which has vowed to press ahead with reforming the SNCF despite opposition from trade unions.
The train schedule was still severely disrupted on Monday because around two-thirds of drivers (62.6 percent) stopped work, leading to only two out of every five high-speed TGVs running.
This compared with only one in eight TGVs at the beginning of April.
Trade unions have announced stoppages on every two days out of five until the end of June, causing major travel problems for the 4.5 million people who use the network each day.
They oppose changing the SNCF from a public institution into a state-owned company -- a move they see as a first step towards privatisation, which the government denies -- as well as a decision to deny new hires job-for-life and early retirement guarantees.
A nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations called by the hard-left CGT trade union last week drew smaller-than-expected crowds and was seen as a sign that Macron has the upper hand in the stand-off.