Trains, Schools Affected As French Unions Call Strike Amid Soaring Inflation

A number of unions called for a nationwide strike on Tuesday in an effort to broaden a weeks-long strike at oil refineries to other sectors. As a result, regional train traffic in France was reduced by about half.

Since the strike mainly affected the public sector, there was some disruption in schools as well.

Trade union leaders hoped that the government's decision to compel some of them to return to work at gas stations in an effort to restart the flow of fuel would energise the workforce. However, some claim that this decision jeopardized the right to strike.

However, according to a poll conducted by Elabe pollsters for BFM TV, only 39% of the general public supported the nationwide strike call made on Tuesday, while 49% were opposed to it.

Since his reelection in May, President Emmanuel Macron has faced some difficult obstacles, including the strike by refinery workers.

More workers may be needed for refineries during the day, according to government spokesman Olivier Veran, as lines of drivers anxious about supply disruptions at gas stations lengthen.

Veran told France 2 TV that "there will be as many requisitions as deemed necessary" and that "blocking refineries, when we have reached an agreement on wages, is not a normal situation."

According to data from the education ministry, less than 10% of teachers in high schools were on strike on Tuesday, and the percentage was even lower in primary schools. In vocational schools, where teachers are opposed to the proposed reforms, the call for a strike was most frequently heard.

On the transportation front, Eurostar announced that the strike would cause some of its London to Paris trains to be canceled.

SNCF, a French public railway operator, reported a 50% decrease in traffic on regional connections but no significant delays on national lines.

Strikes have spread to other areas of the energy industry, including nuclear powerhouse EDF (EDF.PA), where essential maintenance work for Europe's power supply will be delayed, as tensions rise in the second-largest economy in the euro zone.

On Tuesday, a FNME-CGT union representative claimed that work at nuclear power plants, including the Penly plant, was being hampered by strikes.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne stated on Sunday that the strikes are taking place as the government prepares to pass the 2023 budget using special constitutional powers that would allow it to avoid a vote in parliament.

There will be protests all over the nation, including one in Paris starting at 1200 GMT.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people demonstrated against rising prices in Paris. Along with this year's Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Annie Ernaux, Jean-Luc Melenchon, the hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party leader marched.